


A Piece of You, Tomorrow

by NightSwan



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Awesome Kairi (Kingdom Hearts), Axel is awesome and sweet, Dreams, Eventual Smut, M/M, Magic, Mother Hen Riku, Nightmares, Parent is oddly absent, Past Character Death, Reincarnation, Sora is Roxas reincarnated, Soulmates, more tags to added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-06-14 16:47:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15393096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightSwan/pseuds/NightSwan
Summary: “Do you know your name?” She says as she flips through the pages.“Um, Sora, duh.”She looks up then, rolling her eyes. “Your name from the past, silly.”And that shocks Sora for some reason. He of course knows the name, can’t forget the name or of the name of the redhead. But to have to say it out loud? Here? It unnerves him. He leans to one side, and holds his arms at his elbows, whispers, “Roxas.”They are met with silence.-Or-Sora is having dreams of a past life. Dreams of love, fighting… and death. At first, he wishes these dreams would just go away, as they are more trouble than they are worth. He has graduation to think about after all. Unfortunately - or fortunately- he wakes one morning knowing exactly where to go to find some answers, and sets off with his sister to do so.He doesn’t expect to find the tall redhead who’s been plaguing his dreams.But he does.A story about soulmates, friends, and family. The looming threat in the distance seems so far away.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Marked Explicit for eventual smut ;)
> 
> I'm so excited to share this, and I hope some of you enjoy it and give it a chance. I had my friend, who doesn't read fanfic btw, beta it, but of course any errors are still my own. I haven't seen any Axel/Sora stories out there... so I'm a little nervous. 
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos if you want more. I have a good bit of this written, but I want to make sure there's an audience out there for it too. 
> 
> Also, be gentle! This is my first real fic that is multi-chapter.

CH1

_A flash of blazing hair. Dirty cheeks. Clear, tormented green eyes._

_The sky above washes away his fears, as he closes his eyes for the last time._

Sora wakes with a start, clutching tightly at his shirt. He can feel the _thump, thump, thump_ as his heart beats loudly. The dampness on his back an indicator that he has been sweating heavily, and he runs a hand through his spiky wet hair, eyes shut tight as he wills himself under control. He knows that if he looks in a mirror, the sweat will make his dark brown hair look black. He rubs at his cheeks and feels a few streams of tears run down his face.

The AC turns on with a click, and soft tendrils of air finally reach his body. Except, he’s not sweating because he’s hot.

“ _God_...” He breathes harshly, and it takes a second for his breathing to even out. This is the third week in a row where he has had these dreams, though this is the first time he’s died in one of them.

He turns over, clutching a pillow tightly to his chest, and stares at the far wall. He sees the shadow of a tree sway, limbs moving back and forth. Watching it, he tries to think of nothing.

Finally, he drifts off again, but it takes a while.

**-0-0-0-0-**

When Sora wakes up the next morning for real, he’s sprawled out with the blankets near the foot of the bed and his shirt riding above his torso. He doesn’t remember dreaming again, but he wonders if he was kicking in his sleep, as he tried to keep them away. He sits up in his bed, hair a wild mess of unkempt spikes, and wonders not for the first time, if these dreams will ever stop.

He sighs heavily while looking down at his hands.

A slight knock on the door startles him from his thoughts and then it (without warning of course) is swung open by his sister, Kairi, as she steps into the room.

“Geez, Sora! You’re still in bed?” She marches to his closet, her short red hair pulled back as far as it could go in a bun, humming a little under her breath. “You know it’s time to go right!?” She pulls out a uniform shirt and pants and throws them into his lap. Her own uniform skirt bounces a little as she moves her hips to her own made up tune. She pauses though when she sees his face, “did you have that dream again?”

He huffs, clutching the clothes she just tossed him tightly to his chest. “Kairi! Give me some privacy please!”

She rolls her eyes and turns around to face the wall with her hands on her hips as he stands to put on his clothes. “Did you?”

“...Yeah.”

It was now Kairi’s turn to huff, “What was it this time?”

“Um.. I died.”

“WHAT!?” Kairi quickly turns around. Sora is fumbling with one leg in his pants, and when he cries out, she quickly turns back around. “I’m telling Riku when we get on the train. He’d want to know.”

“I don’t see what good it would do by telling him.” He laughs lightly, “Besides! I died on the last one. Maybe I won’t have these dreams anymore…” Sora finishes buttoning his uniform shirt and pats his sister on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”

When they’re waiting for the train a little while later, Kairi is more silent than usual. And when they finally shuffle on, Riku waves at them to let them know where he is. Without Sora’s consent, Kairi marches her way over and dumps her bags next to Riku, sits down, and blurts out, “Sora is having really weird dreams, and you should know.”

“Kairi!” Sora shoves the two of them a little so there is just enough room for all three. Kairi now has to put her bags in her lap, making her look smaller than usual with her book bag and purse engulfing her small frame. She clutches her bags, sandwiched between the two boys. “They’re just dreams,” he corrects his sister, shooting her a glare.

“They are not just dreams! I think they’re important,” Kairi glares back, unfazed. “If they keep repeating, they _got_ to be important!”

“What dreams?” Riku asks concerned as he leans over Kairi to look at Sora. His silver hair falling into his face, covering his eyes.

“I’m not sure exactly how to describe it,” Sora scratches at the back of his neck in embarrassment. Riku has always been the more mature one in their little trio, acting as a sort of mother hen to Sora and Kairi, especially since their own mother is always gone on business to support to children, Sora supposes Riku sees himself as the next best thing. “It’s um, like I’m someone else? Someone from a long time ago or something. It wouldn’t be as weird if it was only one dream, but I’ve had them on and off for a while now.”

One of Riku’s eyebrows shoots up. “Huh, that is interesting.” He does a once over of Sora to make sure he’s fine. “Getting enough sleep?”

“Not really,” Sora breathes.

“Try to drink some warm tea before bed. Maybe that’ll help.” Riku leans back in his seat, apparently satisfied with his motherly duties for the day. “But that really is interesting. I wonder what it could mean.”

“See!” Kairi exclaims as she glances between the two boys, excitement on her face.

“Yeah, well, I don’t exactly know what to do about it.”

“Drink that tea,” Riku interjects.

Kairi glances over mischievously, “I’ll find something.”

Sora groans, because, when Kairi ‘thinks’ he knows it’s going to cause him some kind of trouble.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Sora is following the crowd of people as he tries to make a mad dash through the double doors, freedom at his fingertips. He knows that there is a much needed nap he’s heading to in the next hour or so, and then maybe catch up on homework. Maybe.

Unfortunately, he is stopped by Kairi as she steps in front of him with a wicked grin on her face as she takes him by the sleeve of his shirt and starts dragging him off in a direction he soon recognizes is the way to the school library.

“Noooo! I don’t wanna go!” Sora yells, “Kairi! I need sleep. Home is _not_ this way!” He tries to swing his arms wildly in hopes she’ll let him go, but of course, she has some seriously unnecessary strength for a girl and her arm stays stubbornly around him in a tight grip.

“I just want to show you something it won’t take long,” She smirks as she pulls at his arm even more tightly. “I said I would find something, and I did!”

People are giving them a wide berth as everyone else makes their escape into the afternoon air which he mourns silently as they finally reach Kairi’s destination.

“Look. These stories are similar to yours,” she says. There are already a few books on the table when Kairi leads him there. One already opened and bookmarked. She must have spent all her free time at lunch in the library, and now he knows why she was oddly absent at their table earlier. She places her pointer finger to a particular story, and he looks at the page she is trying to show him. She even did the ungodly thing of highlighting some paragraphs. “This one here, she says she had dreams about being someone else from the past. It started kinda like yours, where she had snippets of memory and stuff. She dreamed of being a dancer on a stage, meeting her husband, having children! Sora! She was able to identify who she saw in her dreams, and guess what Sora! She says she was reincarnated!” She bounces a little on her feet. “Isn’t that exciting! What if you’re dreaming of your past self!? What if it’s the same for you!?”

Sora glances at the story his sister is so excited about, and then takes a second to flip through a couple of pages and sees similar stories. “I’m honestly just impressed they have something like this at a school library.”

She smacks him lightly on his chest, “You’re missing the point-”

“The point,” He starts. “Is even if these dreams are what you think they are. It doesn’t matter.” He bites at his lip, because deep down he knows what she is saying may in fact be true, but he doesn’t want to accept that yet.

“But-”

“Because if it is some kind of,” He looks around to make sure no one is within earshot and whispers, “reincarnation. Then it’s in the past anyways. Nothing can be done.”

Kairi puffs out her cheeks, “You’re saying you don’t want to know!?”

“No. And I feel… I feel like if I find out too much, I may want that life back, Kairi, and I can’t. There’s no way to go back in the past. It’ll only hurt.”

Her head droops a little, her hair falling into her face as his words settles, but she picks her head back up sharply, not completely undeterred. “What about the redhead? You don’t want to know anything about him!?”

He sighs, “For the same reason, Kairi. It’s just not a good idea.” And he thinks, for the first time, maybe he shouldn’t have informed his sister about his dreams, or about the man he sees in his sleep more often than not.  

The blindingly green eyes, the fire burning in them.

She looks down at the book, flipping through a couple pages, “I guess you’re right.” She flicks a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “We wouldn’t even know where to start with you anyways, unless you could remember more details. And like you said, maybe it’s for the best if you don’t remember any more.”

He smiles at her wide, “From what I remember of _dying_ , it may be best to forget it. But thank you! For looking into it for me. It is cool if it’s reincarnation.”

“Right!” She perks back up. “It would be really cool!”

Sora laughs and switches the topic, rubbing at his now grumbling belly. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Mom left us stuff to make lasagna,” Kairi smiles wolfishly. She closes the book still in her hands, and goes to put it in the return pile.

“UGH! The world hates me. She knows I hate lasagna.”

“But _I_ love it! And she loves me more.”

“Whatever, brat!”  He rolls his eyes in mock anger, but there is his signature goofy grin on his face that says otherwise.

“Well, let’s go home,” she says as she smiles and swings her book bag over her shoulders and holds on to the straps as she walks.

“Good call.” Sora tightens his own straps as they make their way out of the library and into the now empty hall. “Except, I’m totally finding something else for dinner. No way am I eating that mess.”

And then he practically sprints home.

When Sora closes his eyes that night he hopes that when he dreams, his dreams will be of scattered nothingness, like homework or of the latest TV show he’s watching. He hopes his dreams finally stray from what seems like distant memories of someone else’s life.

But when he drifts off a minute later, his eyes snap back open, finding himself in another world, completely different from the flashes of memories he usually gets.

His feet march towards a giant pillar. He can hear the echo of his boots, and the lanterns cast heavy shadows into the large room that he finds himself in.

And standing there is a familiar figure, dressed in a long black leather coat and long spiky red hair.

The figure turns, and Sora sees his face. Green eyes, little purple teardrops under each one.

He knows his name immediately.

_Axel_.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Sora is sitting in class the next day slumped over his desk, and the only thing that keeps him pushing through the day is that it is Friday. He’s resting his chin on his hands, and he can barely keep his eyes open. The teacher is going on and on about some sort of math problem, detailing how to solve for X, and then simplify this, and divide that. But Sora can’t _see_ him because his eyes are shut and why are his eyes shut? Oh yeah, because he’s not getting any darn sleep these days, but when he _is_ sleeping, he’s walking in someone else’s shoes. Sometimes, even when he knows he’s technically awake and he looks into a mirror, he sees short spiky blonde hair, and toned muscles. He has to blink a few times to see his slim build and brunette hair.

His eyes, at least never changed from the same piercing blue. And that, for some reason, is freaking him out the most.

There’s movement in front of him, shuffling of clothes, where Riku has turned around in his seat to look at him, but Sora can’t see him because he’s dozing off again. “Sora,” Riku whispers in front of him. “Wake up.”

But Sora keeps his eyes firmly closed, “No. Too tired.”

“Now is not the time to sleep,” Riku nudges him harshly, which finally makes Sora’s eyes crack open. “Shit, you really don’t look well.”

Luckily, they both sit in the far back corner of the room and their whispering is hardly noticed. “It’s getting worse, Riku.”

“The dreams?” He turns back around briefly as the teacher faces his students, discussing something important, Sora is sure.

“It’s either those dreams, or not dreaming at all,” Sora  says flipping through his textbook not really looking at any of the pages. “Sometimes it’s… nothing scary, and actually something good, like walking through a field talking to friends, or… makingoutwithatallredhead.” Sora looks up at Riku then and blushes, but continues, “Lately though, I dream of a lot of fighting, and death…” Sora sucks in a breath, “None of it makes sense. It’s not, I dunno, chronological. It’s like I’m getting pieces of a puzzle and I’m supposed to line the pieces up. But I don’t know what the picture was is in the first place.”

“That… actually sounds kind of rough. Have you considered telling your mother?” Riku says as he jots down something the teacher is saying. He’s always been good at multitasking, and that’s a good thing for Sora, because he’s going to be wanting those notes later. Not like he’s going to understand a thing, but whatever.

“There’s no way I can do that. She’s usually never home as it is, and I can’t risk making her worry.”

“...Did you ever drink that tea?” Riku says already predicting Sora’s answer.

“No. I forgot.”

The bell is about to ring. The students are already zipping up their bags, and taking their phones out of their pockets, ignoring the teacher as he yells at them to stop doing exactly that.

“How about this,” Riku says closing his notebook. “I’ll come over Sunday and we’ll study. There’s a test on Monday that I can tell you’re really going to need my help with, and I can see about making you some of that tea for you and Kairi. But you have to promise to actually study and not try to goof off.”

“What about you just come over and we watch a movie? No? Don’t give me that look,” Sora laughs. “Why are you the one who is already so grown up?”

Riku smiles faintly then, “One of us needs to. If you want to get into university soon, like real soon, you’re going to have to work for it. I’ll come on Sunday, to _study_.”

The bell finally rings, and there’s a moment where the door is bottlenecked as people try to rush out the door because it’s lunch time and there’s pizza on Fridays. The pizza is one of the only _actually_ delicious things the school serves. Sora is counting down the days until graduation, when he can finally eat real food for lunch.

Sora and Riku idly chit-chat as they make their way to the cafeteria when they meet up with Kairi. She’s already seated at their usual spot with a large slice of pizza on her lunch tray. She’s grinning up at them, “I got the last slice.”

“What! They’re already out!?” Sora glares at the line of people, and yup, only a grilled chicken and an apple are being served.

“That’s what we get for walking slow. Come on, let’s get in line.”

 They finally get their food after a few minutes of waiting. Sora is impatient, and already has the apple in his mouth as he makes his way back to the table, Riku a few steps behind him.

He’s in his own thoughts when a commotion starts beside him. There’s a tall woman with long blonde hair he’s sure he’s never seen before, and she’s yelling at some poor kid about who knows what. He can’t see it, but when she looks up and sees the back of Sora’s head, she goes silent for a moment before she snarls and pushes the kid into him.

There’s a brief moment where he’s pretty darn sure he’s going to lose his lunch, but Riku is quick and grabs Sora’s tray with a free hand. The chicken almost slides off the plate, but luckily doesn’t.

The small kid apologizes with a stammer and scampers off. Sora only glares at the tall woman who is now giving him a smile that makes him shiver.

 “Later, kiddo,” she says as she winks at him, and makes her own way to a table at the far side of the cafeteria. She sits with a few boys who look a little too old to still be in high school.

Sora takes the apple out of his mouth once he finally makes it back to the table, “What was up with her?”

“She’s new and she’s obviously a bully. Stay away from her Sora, before she sets her sights on you,” Kairi says pulling some cheese off her pizza and plopping it into her mouth.

“I think she already has,” Says Riku. “She only pushed that kid when she saw Sora.”

“Good thing we don’t have any classes with her, at least,” Sora says picking at his food. The chicken is dry and tastes bland in his mouth.

“She got transferred even though it’s already half-way through the year, from what I heard. Her name is Arlene, I think. And she’s already 19. She’s probably just a little pissy about graduating a year late. Just avoid her. You’ll be fine.”

Sora agrees. He glances over his shoulder and sees several sets of eyes staring back at him. The hair on the back of his neck stands on end. But the moment breaks and then the fear that was there is gone in a matter of seconds.

 Maybe he’s just paranoid for nothing.

**-0-0-0-0-**

 

It’s the next morning when Sora wakes with a start. It’s the middle of the night and his heart is  pounding loudly in his ears, and when he swallows it feels like there is a lump in his throat.

 There is adrenaline pumping in his veins tonight.

 His dreams,so far, have been flashes of memory- like he’s only seeing pictures, or sometimes it's short clips of the past. Other times, when he closed his eyes to go to sleep, he’d wake up again and physically feel like he was _there_ in the memory, walking in another person’s shoes. Last night though, it was like a lighthouse was broadcasting its location to Sora’s head, and he knew now what to look for.

And unfortunately he knew exactly _where_ he had to go to complete that picture.

Kairi was going to be thrilled. At Sora’s expense, of course.

It was a little past four in the morning when he started packing some essentials, like a small shovel, for example. Water, a sleeping bag, a compass he knew he didn’t need.

He had no real idea _what_ he was doing, but knew he was going to do it.

He knocks lightly on Kairi’s door, and then knocks a little louder after there is no response. Sora almost gives up, when suddenly the door creaks open and a very sleepy Kairi emerges. “Sora?” She rubs at her eyes and then looks at him more sharply. “Sora, why are you already dressed? Where are you going?”

“I had another dream,” he smiles wide at her, fully awake.

Sora imagines the gears in her head slightly turning. She wants to ask more, but knew where that has gotten her before. “And?” She asks as a middle ground.

“And,” he says. “I know where to go to find more answers.”

She surprises him when her immediate response is, “Ok, let me get dressed.”

“What!? No. It could be dangerous. I don’t think you should go.”

But she’s already emptying her school bag, and filling it with similar things Sora packed. “You’re not going alone,” she says matter-of-factly.

“Fine. But we’re taking your car.”

She laughs, “You don’t even have a car duffus! Were you planning on stealing my car!? Horrible!”

**-0-0-0-0-**

“Ok,” Kairi says as they buckle up. “You said you know where to go? How? And how far? Should we call Riku?”

“Hmm… I don’t think it’s far. And I don’t really know how to describe it. I… I just know where to go,” Sora says and thinks for a moment, fingers tapping at his knees. “No Riku. He would try to stop us by saying something about how it’s too dangerous.”

“We’ll tell him all about it after we come back.” She throws her head over her shoulder as she starts to back out, “Ok, Oh Mysterious One, lead the way.”

And he does.

He knew to turn left here, and then keep straight there, and then after a few hours of driving, and after the sun had come up, he knew they were getting close.

“I thought you said it was close!”

“Well, kinda close,” he says, but he’s not really paying attention. There’s been a buzzing underneath his skin for a few minutes now, and it only feels worse the closer they get. His palms even burn a little. “Turn here!”

“What!?” She slams on the breaks, and luckily there is no one behind them. “There’s not even a road here!” But she’s already slowly turning onto the field of grass.

“But this is where we need to go…” He says as if it was a no duh. “It’s just grass, we’ll be fine.”

“There are trees up ahead though. A forest, Sora,” She deadpans.

“We were going to have to get out eventually, Kairi.” He deadpans back.

“You didn’t tell me that. For all I knew we were going to go to some old house!”

He stares out at the forest, and at the hills beyond. “Nope. Not that easy this time.”

“Damn.”

Kairi parks her car as far into the forest as the trees will allow, and she covers it with as many branches and leaves as she can find, because, “I don’t want my car stolen, Sora!” After she is fully satisfied with her car’s camouflage, they finally grab their bags and start to hike.

“This better be close, and what is with that shovel!” She glances at it as if it was her mortal enemy. “I didn’t agree to digging.”

“You agreed to come, so you agreed to digging,” he says as he marches forward. It really shouldn’t be too far by this point. “See that hill up ahead?”

“Um, No, not really.”

“Oh. Well, there will be a small clearing coming up, and then there will be a small hill. The small hill is where we gotta dig.”

“Well, at least we’re almost there.”

His skin is still buzzing, and he feels excitement building. It’s like something it his head is saying ‘ _finally’._

He doesn’t know what he is going to find. But from what he remembers seeing in his dreams, it will be something _very_ interesting.

He can’t deny having a thing for adventure.

They hit the clearing then, and Sora gleams when he spots the hill in front of him. “Ok, I’ll start digging,” he says.

Kairi places her things on the ground and looks around herself, “There doesn’t seem like there was ever anything here.” She grabs a water bottle from her bag and takes a swig.

“There was a long time ago, Kairi,” he says as he starts to dig.

“... How long are we talking?” She asks nervously.

“Honestly? A really long time. Hundreds, if not over a thousand years ago.”

She drops the water bottle then. It falls to the ground with a _thud_ , and it’s contents pour out into the dirt, “Hundreds? Thousand! Years ago?”

He doesn’t stop his digging or spare a glance at her, “Yup. That’s what I said.”

“Oh.” She’s quiet for a minute as he continues to work. The sun is beating down at the nape of his neck, and he can already tell there’ll most likely be a small sunburn there. Sora wore a pair of old worn jeans, and unfortunately while blindly searching for a shirt this morning he reached for his most favorite one. He feels pretty bummed that it’ll most likely get ruined.

As he digs, and while his sister is sitting beside him scrolling through social media, he has flashes of memory run through his head like a movie reel that had gone berserk. One moment he saw his shovel hit the dirt, and the next he saw himself running through a long hallway, fear at the heels of his feet. One moment, he was throwing the dirt over his shoulder, and the next he was walking next to the tall redhead laughing about something that was said.

He eventually hits something hard and solid, and he throws his shovel to the ground, “Finally.”

“What? What is it?” She peers over him, phone still in her hands.

He smiles wide and wiggles his fingers, “Time to dig with our hands.”

“No way,” She says looking disgusted but she’s already putting her phone away in her back pocket.

“Way.”

Taking clumps of dirt and grass and flinging it into a pile, they make progress on what Sora knew would eventually lead to what is essentially a door. Finally, there is a few feet uncovered and they’re met with a very detailed stone, with intricate markings. They both stare at it.

“Oh, wow. This looks really old,” Kairi says, wiping her dirty hands on her shorts.

“Yeah…” Sora was mesmerized with past images flooding through him again, and without thinking, he takes his right hand and places it over a small carving in the stone.

Sora’s hand suddenly feels hot, burning, and a bright light starts to illuminate from his hand.

“Oh my god!” He hears his sister yell beside him.

He pulls his arm as far away from his face as he can, and when he does a blast of light makes tears form in his eyes. Then he feels something heavy and metallic in his hands as the light disappears.

After a few seconds he realizes it’s safe to open his eyes again, and he looks down at his hand.

_Keyblade_.

The word forms itself in his head. Immediately knowing what it was, and flashes of memories from his dreams remind him that it is a weapon.

_Rain pouring down, keyblade swinging, striking, clashing._

 “What the heck just happened? And what is that!?” Kairi takes a small step back, worried. “That… That was, magic? Wasn’t it?… And is that a sword? But it’s shaped... like a key?”

Sora, while still looking at the keyblade, says, “Um, I guess so? And it’s called a Keyblade.”

“Holy crap,” Kairi looks around. “I feel like we’re going to get in over our heads with this. Maybe we should have asked Riku about this, afterall.”

He looks up and scratches the back of his head with his left hand, “Nah. I think we’re fine. Whatever was here before, anything dangerous, would be long gone by now.”

“That is magic though, Sora.” Kairi says, unsure.

Sora quirks an eyebrow up at her and says, “You’re the one who wants to find out about who I was.”

“When I thought we would be going to some old house and find pictures or something! Not see magic!”

“Well, we’re here already.” Sora places his left hand on the stone, and it lights up again. A swirl of colors form on the surface as light moves around crevasses and slowly, the stone moves. The dirt and grass fall away as the pathway opens. A few steps appear, looming downwards into darkness. “Ladies first?” He says as he swings the keyblade over his shoulder. However, it disappears in an instant, making him lose his balance slightly, and he stumbles backwards a bit.

“Oh God, Sora, don’t even joke right now.” Kairi moves forward as she peers down the steps. She firmly takes Sora’s hand in her own, grasping hard, almost hurting. They haven’t held hands since they were probably 10, but right now neither of them are going to complain. Even if Sora seems to know what he is doing, he still isn’t entirely sure what they’re going to find down in the depths below. He just knows that he _needs to go._

  _(There is something waiting for you)_

“Alright. Well, here we go.” Sora and Kairi together take their first steps downward.

Light, once again springs to life as the stone steps glow with each step they take. The walls also light up with swirling patterns, and torches flick to life as the entrance gets further from them. It’s also quiet, and they can hear their footsteps echoing all around them. After a moment, Kairi’s shoulders seem to lose the tension she was holding as she realizes that it isn’t as scary as she first thought, and her red hair bounces as she skips down the steps, Sora all the while being pulled along by her new found enthusiasm. She always was up for an adventure too, after all, which is why Sora shouldn’t be surprised on how easily she has already accepted the _magic_ and the apparent crazy they have put themselves in. The light from outside vanishes as they sink further down.

Sora notices their first problem, at the end of the tunnel there is a very large wall, unpassable. The hallway opened up slightly, a little less narrow, which they had taken for a good sign a second ago, but now Sora isn’t so sure. Sora looks up. The wall is so large he can’t see where the ceiling is, as the light that was given to them only helped them see a few feet over their heads. He only has small fragments of memories to go on, and this is not something he can remember. He’s honestly stumped. He goes to touch the wall and see if that too will fall apart, just like the entrance did, but nothing happens. He doesn’t even get a hint of a memory about this.

 Nothing.

“That’s odd,” Kairi says walking the length of the wall, fingers slightly touching. “There’s got to be a way around this.” She thinks for a second, and then it’s like a light bulb appears over her head. She reaches around and unzips her book bag, shoving her hand inside and reaching for something. Then finally, her hand reemerges with a flashlight. “We didn’t need this because the steps and walls lit up earlier.”

“I don’t see how a flashlight is going to help. It’s a giant wall,” Sora says, unimpressed as Kairi flicks on the flashlight and points it towards the wall. Sora looks back towards where the entrance is, but they are so far in now that he can’t see anything besides the lights gleaming lightly on the walls.

“There!” Kairi calls out, and Sora turns to see whatever it is that she has found. She points upwards, and where her flashlight can barely reach, and to be honest Sora has to squint to even see it, there is a large shape indented into the stone.

“What is it?” Sora asks.

“Um, Honestly? It looks like a keyhole. But that doesn’t really make any sense? Does it?” She bounces on the heels of her feet a little, as she tries to figure out its meaning. “Oh, wait! That swordkey thing you just had!”

“Keyblade.” Sora corrects.

“Right, that! Well, I still don’t see how it could help though… Considering it’s just a sword.” She ‘hmms’ a little. “Try smacking the wall with it? Maybe you can knock it down, or something. Can you even get it to reappear?”

Sora shrugs, “It’s worth a shot, and I should be able to.” He holds out his arm, trying to summon the keyblade, and after a few moments of silence where Sora is pretty sure he won’t be able to bring it back afterall, his hand finally explodes in the same light as before, and the keyblade sits heavy in his hand again.

“Ok!” Kairi yells and points to the wall. “Onward ho!”

Sora lifts up the blade, struggling a little to get it over his head, but then finally, he takes a blow to the wall. He feels the keyblade make contact, and then he feels pain reverberate all throughout his body. “Ohh! I don’t like that!”

“You didn’t even leave a dent,” She giggles.

“That hurt!” Sora takes a step back, but when he does, he can feel the same burning in his hands, and his arm lifts up and his feet jump back a few steps like his legs have a mind of their own.

“Sora!”

The keyblade lifts and a strong piercing light emits from the key, like a laser. The light makes contact with the keyhole in the middle of the wall, illuminating the spot. One moment, the wall was strong and unpassable, and the next second it was completely gone, vanished as if it was never even there to begin with. More light explodes down the hallway, as magic brightens up the place even more. There are several rows upon rows of what appears to be books.

 The place is huge.

“Wow.” They both say in unison.

“Look at all these books!” Kairi runs ahead, and sprints down one of the rows. “They could have records! We could find your name in here!”

“I think that would take a really long time, Kairi. Look at how many books there are.”

She pulls one off the shelf and dusts it off, “We won’t know until we try!” She flips it open and scans the page.

Sora walks up next to her, and looks at the book from over her shoulder. It does appear to be some kind of log of records, but it doesn’t really make any sense. Magic Carpet, 118. Magic Mirror 149 Fairy Godmother’s Wand 217… What does that mean? He doesn’t remember.

“Do you know your name?” She says as she flips through the pages.

“Um, Sora, duh.”

She looks up then, rolling her eyes. “Your name from the past, silly.”

And that shocks Sora for some reason. He of course knows the name, can’t forget the name or of the name of the redhead. But to have to say it out loud? Here? It unnerves him. He leans to one side, and holds his arms at his elbows, whispers, “ _Roxas_.”

They are met with silence.

“Ok, Roxas,” Kairi says a little louder than Sora would have liked. “I’ll try to keep an eye out for that name. What’re you gonna do?”

“Um, there’s something at the end of the hall that I want to check out and see if I can remember anything else. Do you think you’ll be ok by yourself?”

She twirls around in her spot arms outstretched, “Look at all these books. I think I’ll be ok.” She smiles and winks at him.

“Loser,” is all he says as he smiles and walks off. She flips him the bird, but she already has her nose firmly in a book.

He can hear the slight _tap, tap, tap_ of his shoes on the silent floor. It’s unsettling. But there is still buzzing throughout his skin, pushing him forward. Eventually, the rows of books and parchment stop, and he can see a very large room in the distance. He knows as soon as he reaches it; the pillars are still there, exactly as he remembers.

He’s helped guard these halls in a past life.

Looking down at his hand, he can recall the keyblade feeling like an extension of his arm. Though, so far when he’s held it, its felt heavy and unnatural to wield.

He walks forward more into the large open room, and notices a long rectangular table with several chairs scooted underneath it. The chairs are heavily detailed on the back. He looks at one of the chairs, and his eyes widen when he realizes he’s looking at an intricate keyblade. The chair next to that one has a different type of weapon, chakrams covered in flames. He traces his fingers on a flame, as he remembers its owner. He wonders what happened to the man that watched Roxas die. What happened to him? Did he keep on living and guarding these halls? Did he find someone else to… to love? He believes Roxas would have wanted these things, or at least, Sora feels that way now for the man from the past.

He doesn’t want to know if he also ended in tragedy.

It occurs to him for the first time that the table and chairs aren’t covered in dust like the books were. Is that odd? He wonders, but doesn’t put too much thought into it. Besides, these halls have probably been quiet for hundreds of years.

He scoots out _his_ chair and takes a seat. He came here because he felt an urging to come, but what is there to find? He can find out a lot about his former life, but what good will it really do? The uncertainty flows through him again, settling in his stomach, like an ache. It appeases Kairi’s interest, at least. There are bound to be something here they can take back and sell, or keep as treasure. If there are no more guards to guard these halls, then it should be fine to take something back with them. Right? After all, it's practically like uncovering a pyramid with tons of gold and treasure. This stuff doesn’t belong to anyone anymore.

He glances at the wall ahead, and jumps up, a memory surfacing. The wall in front doubles as a giant computer, he recalls. Sora remembers some sort of program that can talk, what was its name? Ron? Something with a funny name.

He’s trying to recall more when a small shuffle to his right alerts him to another person’s presence. Then he’s knocked back against the table, the edge digging into his hip. The chair scoots loudly beside him, as its legs scrape against the hard floor. There is a firm, tight grip on his right elbow, and his shirt is almost strangling his neck as someone lifts him up slightly by the collar. His feet struggle to touch the ground.

“How the fuck did you get in here?” A voice hisses at him.

Even while Sora is staring into harsh green eyes he can barely believe what he is seeing.

“Oh my God,” he distantly hears himself say.

The man with blazing red hair leans forward more, green eyes turning into slits. “How. Did you. Get in here?” It must be a combination of the dark, and the long black leather coat that the man wears that kept him hidden from Sora. Though now that he’s in front of him, he can’t believe he’s still wearing the same thing from his dreams. He would find it funny that that’s the first thing he thinks of when he sees the man.

Sora knows this man can harm him, and he should be scared. However, while he’s caught between the edge of the table, he can feel the man’s torso against him as he leans over Sora. _Different_ memories surfacing this time.

“Oh my God.” He can feel his cheeks fill, as the rest of the blood rushes south.

“Are those the only words you can say?” The grip on the collar of his shirt tightens, which makes Sora squirm from the firm hold.

“I… I…” Sora stammers. “ _Axel?_ ”

Axel seems surprised at hearing his name, his grip loosening for a moment and his mouth parts slightly, but then the grip tightens even more around his neck, which makes Sora choke and sputter. Axel leans in even closer looking at Sora’s face, trying to see if he can place it in a memory. Of course, he can’t though, because he doesn’t know _Sora_. Sora gets a whiff of Axel’s scent, and he blushes even harder.

He should not be getting turned on right now.

“Who are you?” Axel demands.

“Sora!” He turns his head suddenly as he hears his sister running towards him, but he is hidden behind a pillar, and Kairi isn’t going to know the trouble she could be in if she comes this way. “Sora! Where are you! I found it! I found your name!”

He can see the light of the hallway brighten as she approaches, and when she finally bounces around the corner, her face full of energy and excitement dies as soon as she sees Sora being assaulted. The book in her hand falls to the floor and scatters, and she gasps.

“Sora!”

Axel’s hand on Sora’s elbow lifts and flings towards Kairi, a flame emerging and shooting towards her. It misses her head by inches, and she flinches in fear.

“How many of you are there?” Axel says again, voice harsh. “Answer me in a complete sentence this time.” His hand is still outstretched towards Kairi, and Sora knows that this is to show that he won’t miss the next time.

Sora paws at the grip around his neck and answers, “Just the two of us! I swear!”

“Oh, so you can talk properly. Good.” His chin lifts up, and his cat like eyes narrow. “So how do you know my name, Sora?”

“Um,” Would he believe Sora if he told the truth? Probably not. Axel may not take to hearing Roxas’ name very well either and this is happening too suddenly for Sora to think logically. “Um, Oh… Uh... History books?” He smiles falsely, even though he knows he doesn’t sound very convincing.

Axel doesn’t like that answer, and slams him against the table again. “You’re not a good liar.” There is going to be one hell of a bruise on Sora’s lower back the next morning… If he makes it to the next morning.

“You!” Axel yells pointing to Kairi. “What’s your name?”

She looks hesitant to answer, glancing from Sora to Axel, but eventually she does, “K-Kairi.”

“Ok, Kairi.” His eyes sharp and fierce, jump between the two of them, “How does this kid know my name? And I want an answer on how you two got in.” Axel loosens his grip enough that Sora can finally breathe properly. He must not see them as the biggest threat, or he may have already turned them into toast.

“Um!” She throws her hands out wildly, gesticulating. “It... s-started with dreams. The past! Not my past, his past! I don’t know who you are, only Sora does. And he knew how to get here. And now we’re here!” She tries to answer, and Axel looks like he’s already had enough of the two of them.

“Really now,” he says slowly. “That wasn’t much help.”

“But!” Sora starts. “But you’re really not going to believe me though!”

Axel raises an eyebrow. The cat like eyes always mesmerized him... No, that’s not right. It mesmerized _him_. “You won’t know till you try. And trust me, I have time.”

“Ok then,” Sora takes a deep breath and stares at a spot past Axel’s shoulders. This adventure didn’t turn out like anything he could have ever expected. It wasn’t even two months ago when he was just a normal kid, worrying about normal things like getting into university with his best friend, and trying to figure out how he wanted to grow up. Now, he’s in some kind of magical dungeon with his past life’s lover, and _that_ seems to just be the start of the crazy. He levels his eyes on Axel, unwavering, “I’m… I’m Roxas.”

There’s only the briefest moment of silence, before Sora can tell that he’s said the wrong thing once again. Because instead of being shoved against the table, he’s half carried by the collar again and is thrust against the closest wall. The back of his head bounces, and he immediately can feel a headache blossom. He cries out in pain.

“Sora!” He hears Kairi holler in front of him, but when he opens his eyes and lifts his head he can see nothing but angry green.

“That. Really. Wasn’t the right thing to say. And you’re right, I don’t believe you,” Axel says. All of a sudden, Sora can feel flames at his side where Axel isn’t gripping him by the shirt. “I really don’t feel like giving you another chance. But I suppose I can _try_.” A sharp blade covered in fire pierces the wall next to him, “One last time. Since you have a lady with you and all.” Sora is pinned there, but the longer he’s assaulted by Axel, the more he feels his own fire burn in his belly, anger starting to form. “Why is it so hard to answer a simple question!? How did you get past the lock?”

“Lock!?” Kairi moves closer, and stands as close as she dares. “Sora opened it!”

Axel glances at her, startled, “How!?”

“The keyblade!” Sora answers for her. So far, he hasn’t fought back and he knows he’s not much of a fighter, but Axel doesn’t seem to be giving him much of a chance either. And to be truthful, he hasn’t even thought about using the keyblade until now and he silently thanks Kairi for reminding him. He pushes at Axel’s chest, and thankfully he stumbles backwards just enough, giving time for Sora to bring his arm out. There is a moment where he isn’t sure if he can summon the keyblade, but then he feels relief when the small ball of light explodes and he feels it fall into his palm.

Axel stumbles back even more when he sees it, but still keeps his fiery chakrams ready. He stands in a fighting position, eyes never leaving the keyblade.

“How!?” Axel shouts, and throws his arm out in anger, making a flame burst and land near his feet. “How do you have that!?”

Kairi rushes to Sora’s side and he pushes her a little behind him, protecting her. “I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.” He lifts the keyblade, keeping it ready.

Axel seems hopeful for the briefest of moments, eyes flashing with uncertainty, but they harden again as he tries to mask the hope. Axel is starting to believe him, even if just the slightest bit. “Bullshit!” He yells at Sora.

“I… I don’t know everything. And I sure don’t know how the heck you’re still here. But I know,” Sora places his free hand over his heart. “Here. I know. I know I’m Roxas.”

“He’s had dreams. Memories from the past for a few weeks now. That’s how we’re here,” Kairi says over Sora’s shoulder. “He’s dreamed of you, too.”

“Kairi!” Sora yells, embarrassed.

She looks at him, and he can tell she wants to roll her eyes, but she’s probably still scared. “That’s how he knew your name.”

Axel’s weapons fade from his hands, and he stands uncertain, “I....” There’s a moment of silence where he only stares at Sora, searching his face again, but this time searching for any sign of Roxas. He’s not sure what Axel finds, but he doesn’t seem as angry as he was a moment ago. He shakes his head like he still can’t believe it, one hand holding his temples as if he had a headache. “You better not be fucking with me.”

 Axel’s stance is still uncertain, however.

 Sora still has his weapon ready and his arm is outstretched protecting Kairi, but he lowers them both just a fraction. “It’s mostly just pieces of memories. But I remember more and more every night. It’s… It’s becoming difficult for me. That’s why we came today. To find something about Roxas… about myself.” He looks into Axel’s eyes, willing him to see the truth. “We didn’t expect to find _you_.”

 “We would never have bad intentions!” Kairi places her hands behind her back, and shifts her hips to the side and smiles brightly. Though, Sora can bet if he held her hands they’d be shaking.

Axel shakes his head a little. “I don’t… How?” Axel must think of something then, because he turns his head to Kairi. “Who are you then?”

Sora’s not sure if he’s asking if she’s someone from the past, or what her relationship is to Sora, but he answers for her anyway, “She’s my sister.”

Axel nods, and if he’s relieved he doesn’t seem to show it, “Ok… Ok.” He sighs with relief then, and even cracks a faint smile. “I guess that explains how the hell you got through the lock _you_ placed there.”

Sora’s keyblade vanishes as it must sense that it’s not needed anymore. “What?” He squeaks.

Axel crosses his arms. “Yup. No one can get past the wall without the keyblade. Well, a few tried of course. You’re the only one that could… only one that can.”

“Oh, well. Oh.” Sora is surprised at the new information. How did he lock the wall if he was dead? Right before he died? Why was Axel locked in? Why is Axel still _alive_?

“Well-” Sora starts, and he looks in Axel’s eyes, but they quickly dart away and look to the ground. “So, um, how are you?” He cringes internally, as he doesn’t know what to say, and he is honestly still pretty overwhelmed by everything.

Axel laughs, “Horrible. If you want to know the truth.”

Sora flinches in response.

“So… You’re not going to kill us after all?” Kairi asks hopeful.

“No,” Axel turns away from them and starts walking. “And I probably wouldn’t have either. I just needed answers.” He throws his arm over his shoulder. “Are you coming or what?”

“Then… You believe me?” Sora questions.

“I just needed to see the keyblade to believe you.”

Sora and Kairi turn to look at each other before they silently agree to walk after him. Kairi picks up the book she dropped when she first came running in. As they follow behind Axel, she shows Sora the page that has Roxas’ name in it. But it’s not very helpful, since it just looks like a timesheet.

“Where are we going?” Sora asks after a few seconds.

“I’m going to grab some things. Now that you opened the lock, I can finally leave. The threat that was here ended a long time ago.” They make it down a hall with several doors, and he can tell what they are right away as soon as Axel walks in. It’s a bedroom. “Do you know how long I’ve been down here by myself? A really long fucking time. That’s how long.” Axel grabs some things, and places them in a bag of his own.

“Um, should I be sorry?” Sora asks.

Axel turns to them then, and his eyes soften, “No. I knew what I was getting myself into when I was locked in.”

“That’s… good?”

“Unfortunately for me,” He turns his back on them again, busing himself. “Worth the wait though.”

Sora is surprised at the remark and feels his cheeks turn a shade of crimson. Kairi nudges him, and smiles.

Once Axel is satisfied with whatever it is he’s taking with him, he turns to two of them, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“But what about-”

“Anything you want to know about yourself I can tell you. But I can’t let you take anything either, and I want to _go_.”

Sora recalls the thought of maybe taking something to sell or to keep, and sees that possibility vanish before his eyes.

Axel makes to move past the door, past Sora and Kairi, but seems to reconsider something. He quickly turns to Sora and grabs him in a deadly hug, Axel’s flaming red hair tickling his nose. Sora is caught off guard, but doesn’t even have to think twice as he holds onto the tall man in front of him.

Beside them, Kairi smiles. 


	2. Chapter 2

The three of them are walking silently together. Kairi skips ahead of them humming loudly. The light from the walls brighten anytime she brushes her hands against it. Sora keeps trying to sneak a glance at Axel from the corner of his eye, but the next time he looks over, the redhead chuckles. After that, Sora makes sure to keep his head facing forward so he doesn’t die of embarrassment.

They get a little further past all the rows and rows of books when Axel stops them with a, “Wait.”

“What is it?” Sora asks as he comes to a stop.

“You have to lock it back.”

“Oh, I’m not really sure how to do that though?” Sora looks up at where the wall used to be and wonders how in the heck he’d be able to  _ put it back _ . He’s not even entirely sure how he made it disappear in the first place, to be honest.

“You’re the keyblade master. Surely you can figure it out. We can’t leave until it’s shut. There may not be many people after what’s down here anymore, as far as I know, but I don’t want to risk leaving it open either.”

Kairi bounces back to them and cheers, fist pumping into the air, “You can do it, Sora!”

“I’ll try…” He says hesitantly.

“I’ll try to help as well. I still remember you describing how to use it.”

“Ok.” Sora lifts his arm out, and the keyblade reappears. The more he summons the weapon, the easier it is wield.

“Point it towards where the keyhole was before.” Axel stands close behind Sora, closer than he would have liked. His back is brushing against Axel’s chest, and Sora is too busy turning all shades of red when Axel places his arm on Sora’s elbows, making him move the keyblade upwards. “Then, think about how you unlocked it. Just imagine the opposite.”

Inhale, exhale. “I don’t remember really thinking of anything.” Sora stares at the empty spot. “Just that I wanted to get inside.”

“Well, now we don’t want  _ anyone _ inside. Make that your will and the keyblade should respond.” If it’s even possible, Axel seems to move closer, and his warmth seeps into Sora’s back. Sora glances at Kairi, who just gives him two thumbs up and a wide smile.

“O-Ok.” Sora closes his eyes and imagines the place ahead of them. Before, he wanted to get in to find out more about himself, and now that he has what he wants, he wants to keep the place from his past safe.

“That’s it,” Axel breathes above him. When Sora opens his eyes, a faint light appears at the end of the keyblade. It shoots up skyward, the wall reappearing and glowing. Finally, after a few seconds, the light dims and he hears Kairi cheer behind him. Axel squeezes his shoulders, “Good job, Roxas.”

His heart sinks. “Sora,” he corrects.

Axel says nothing, turning around and heading towards the exit. His bag slinging loosely over his shoulder.

The short walk to the exit feels too quiet.

When they finally make it outside, Axel sprints the final steps and stretches his arms over his head and shouts, “Finally!” He turns to the two of them and grins, “Please tell me this world has changed since the last time I was outside.”

“We have cars and restaurants?” Kairi says as she emerges, also stretching.

“Food. I need food. I haven’t eaten in  _ sooo _ long.” Axel sees Sora taking his final steps outside and he offers his hand for Sora to grab onto, and he takes the offer after a second of hesitation. Did Axel not see  _ Sora _ , but instead, did he only see Sora as Roxas? He knows he technically is Roxas, but the thought of Axel dismissing who he is now… feels wrong.

“So, um,” Sora starts, dropping Axel’s hand as soon as he makes it firmly outside into the sun. “Mind me asking how you’re still alive then?”

“Yeah! How is that possible? Are you some kind of vampire?” Kairi swings her bag over her shoulder and goes to grab her water bottle and chugs it. “Because that would be cool.”

“Vampire?” Axel sees Sora doing the same as Kairi, grabbing a bottle from his bag, and before Sora can take the bottle to his lips, Axel is snatching it from his hands and he quickly drinks the bottle to almost empty. Sora shouts a protest, but can’t feel too upset about it. “I’m not sure what that is. But no, still human. The Chamber, basically anything past the books, acts as a sort of time capsule. That’s how we kept everything so well preserved. When we were on duty, we basically lived there for years. Guard, sleep. Guard, sleep. I thought  _ that _ was boring. But doing the guarding by yourself for a thousand years, and then you really know what boring is.”

“What happened?” Sora asks taking the empty bottle back.

Axel stills, eyes going dim. “We have a long time to talk about that,” Axel says, leaving the question unanswered.

“What are you going to do though?” Kairi asks as they make their way through the woods and towards the car, which is thankfully still covered in leaves. Kairi sighs in relief and says something like, ‘Oh thank God! My baby is still here!’

“What do you mean? I’m never leaving this guy’s side again,” Axel jams his thumb behind him, pointing at Sora. This answer should surprise him, but it only makes his cheeks redden. They were doing a lot of that lately it seems. “Even if we weren’t in danger anymore, I probably wouldn’t leave. But, you have the keyblade. Even if you’re the only one who can wield it, you are also the only one who has the power to connect the other worlds together, and reopen that lock. It may take some time, but there will be someone who will want to use that power for themselves, putting you in danger. I need to be here to protect you.”

“Other worlds? But wait. If I’m the only one who can use it, then I just won’t do what they want. Right?”

Axel gives him a look, “That got you killed last time. Besides, evil always finds a way. Somehow you’re back. What if there are others?” He looks up towards the sky and sees the trees sway calmly. “I’m... not having that happen again.”

Sora clutches at one of his straps around his shoulder. “You don’t even know if it will happen. Maybe there’s nothing else to worry about.”

Axel looks back at him and smiles, “I doubt it.” They finally reach the car, and Kairi instructs them all to buckle up. Axel is in the backseat, trying to figure out how the seatbelt works. Once he manages, he says, “How long have you been able to use the keyblade, anyway?”

“I just got it a few hours ago…” Sora says while he helps Kairi look for oncoming traffic.

“Shit. Really? And you were already able to do so much with it.” Axel seems proud. “That’s my Roxas.”

“Sora,” Kairi corrects Axel as she slowly makes it onto the road. Sora smiles a little, even if Axel’s words burn.

Axel is quiet for a second before he says, “Right.”

**-0-0-0-0-**

They’re almost back home, the sun starting to set, when Sora finally makes the connection that Axel will be staying with them. He shouts, “Wait!”

Kairi jumps. “What!? And don’t do that when I’m driving!”

“Axel. Where are we going to put Axel?”

“I’ll just sleep with you,” Axel says simply.

“No!” Sora barks. “What about the spare room? Think Mom would mind? What do we even tell her?”

“Hmm…” Kairi drums her thumbs on the steering wheel. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Mom is gone a lot anyways. We’ll just say he’s a friend outside of school that needs a place to crash for a bit. She probably won’t say much.”

Sora turns to look in the backseat where Axel is, and the redhead winks at him. Sora turns around quickly then, regretting his decision. “I’m not sure about this.”

“Look,” starts Axel. “We still have a lot to discuss, and we’ll have to go back to the Chambers eventually. There’s a lot I couldn’t do by myself, but with you here now, there’s more to do that I need your help with. We can focus on regaining some of your memory, and work on your keyblade skills. At our own pace. Eventually, when the time comes, we can decide what happens later and after you help me. Where we go, or… Where I go.” Axel throws his arm around the back seat, legs spread wide. “But I don’t plan to leave until I’m a hundred percent sure you’d be safe.” He pauses, “Even then I’m not sure you could get rid of me.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kairi says as she pulls into their driveway, already apparently comfortable with a tall strange, magic wielding man who is now going to be living with them. “Mom left for overseas not that long ago, so she’ll probably be gone for a while. I’ll shoot her a text telling her we have someone staying for a bit.”

It has been one hell of a day, thinks Sora. Was it the part of him that is Roxas that knew that Axel was still down there and wanted to get him out? He woke up this morning expecting to find something about himself. Instead, he found his lover from a past life. Sora supposes he’s met his quota for weird for the week… or for his whole life, really.

Once they get inside, Sora leads Axel to the spare bedroom and flips on the light. The room has several boxes of junk that no one is willing to part with. The bed is also covered in some of Kairi’s clothes, and he shouts to his sister to come and get her crap. Axel lays down his small bag on the bed and looks around. “This world has really changed. It was pretty primitive when we first came here.”

Sora was still in the process of moving boxes out of the way and into the closet when the words sink in, “What? I’ve heard you say ‘other worlds’ before… but what!?” He whispers, “Are you an alien!?” He thinks, “You said ‘we’ a second ago… am I an alien too!?”

Axel chuckles and flops on the bed, “I guess so. Technically. No one on this world uses magic, haven’t you noticed? Or, at least they didn’t a long time ago.” Sora tells him magic is practically a myth here. “Thought so… Part of the reason why it was a safe place to store magic.” Axel looks around the room, probably happy to see something different than what he’s been looking at for the past thousand years. “I don’t know why you were reborn. Or why you were reborn on this world rather than the world we came from. It could have to do with the fact that you died here… I’m not sure, but,” He scratches the back of his head and looks at Sora then. “But I’m happy.”

“I’m Roxas,” Sora says thinking this needs to be said, as he finishes moving the boxes out of the way, and grabs a broom. “But, I’m Sora more.”

Axel’s eyebrows sink a little in frustration. “You’re brunette.”

Sora huffs, “Good observation skills.”

“You were blonde before,” Axel says, seeing into the past.

Sora’s hands still on the broom for a moment, and then he bends down and sweeps the dust into a pan and knocks it against a small trash can in the room. “I know that.”

“It’ll be hard to adjust. But I think I like it.” Axel stands, and walks over to Sora who has turned his back to him. Axel grabs the broom and pan from Sora’s hands and sets them against a small table.

“Axel?” Sora says, looking up into green eyes.

“Your eyes are still blue.” He leans further in, cataloging Sora’s features. “You used to be fit, a warrior. Now you’re small and frail.”

“I’m not frail!” Sora exclaims, as he pushes Axel away from his face with an elbow.

Axel moves quickly then, grabbing Sora by the wrist and flipping him onto the bed. Sora squeaks in protest, but then his wrists are pinned above his head, and the weight of Axel on his chest makes it hard to move. “You would’ve been able to push me off before, can you do that now?” Axel knees Sora’s legs apart, and presses their bodies together.

“Axel… What’re you doing!?” Sora tries to move, but every time he moves there is a sweet friction that makes his cheeks fill with heat.

“Even if you summon the keyblade right now, it wouldn’t help you,” Axel says, brushing their lips together.

“A-Axel…” Sora’s heart races.

“God… Your eyes really are the same.” Axel closes the gap with his mouth, and sucks on Sora’s bottom lip. He bucks up on instinct, and they both groan. Axel draws little circles with his thumb in Sora’s wrist where he has him pinned. He isn’t ever going to admit it, but feeling a little helpless shoots another thrill throughout his body.

Sora gasps when Axel takes his free hand and plays at the hem of the shirt, teasing the skin at his stomach.

“Shit.” Axel thrusts harder into Sora, panting. “... Roxas.”

The heat Sora was feeling dies, and he feels ice flood his chest in its place. His teeth pull back in a snarl, “Sora. My name is Sora.” He jams his knee into Axel’s side, and the man immediately lets him go.

“I don’t see the difference,” Axel says looking to see if he’ll have a bruise. He thinks back to when he was shoved up against the edge of the table, and if Axel is sporting a bruise tomorrow, he deserves it. 

“Jesus. You weren’t so much of a… Of a  _ dick _ in my memories,” Sora says as he jumps up off the bed and makes for the door. “Sleep fucking well.”

When he opens it he sees Kairi there, hand up as if she was about to knock, and then she quickly puts her arm down. “Bad time?”

“No. I was just leaving,” Sora says in a huff.

Sora’s rounding the corner to his own room, but he can still hear when Kairi says, “Wow. You must’ve really made him mad. He never curses.”

**-0-0-0-0-**

_ “Do you know what day it is?” _

_ “Oh please, it’s not like you would ever let me forget anyway.” _

_ He smiles wide, grinning, “What ya gonna get me then?” _

_ “You mean to ask, ‘what are you gonna  _ do _ for me,’ right?” _

_ “Oh! That works too.” _

**-0-0-0-0-**

The next morning Sora wakes up with a groan and he can tell that it is too damn early. He rolls over to look at the clock on his phone, and it reads ‘6:53,’ which is the ass crack of dawn if you ask him. He is unfortunately still dreaming of memories when he sleeps, and last night he remembered giving Axel one hell of a blowjob for his birthday. It feels wrong to be able to know such intimate things about Roxas’ past, even if it is part of his own past. Sora throws the covers off himself, and looks down. Yup, he needs to make a silent trip to the washer. Embarrassing.

He grabs his soiled boxers and a stack of other dirty clothes in a hamper to make it seem less suspicious, and quietly opens his door. Luckily, the house is quiet as he makes his way to the laundry room. The sound of birds chirping in the distance is the only thing he can hear.

When he passes by a window that looks out into the backyard, he sees Axel there doing pushups with one arm behind his back. His shirt is off. Sora can see the strong muscles of his shoulder blades when he moves up and down. He is only standing there watching for a second, but Axel stills and jumps up, locking eyes with Sora.

He scatters off with his hamper and moves down the hall dumping his clothes in the washer and turning it on. He leans against the machine and covers his face with his hands as the water starts to fill.

It’s Sunday, and he has school tomorrow. He should really try to get some homework done. Maybe he can use that as an excuse to stay in his room all day to avoid Axel.

He hears the backdoor open, and Sora can see him from where he’s at. Axel is covered in a thin layer of sweat, and he picks up a shirt that was hanging on the back of a chair and slides it on, showing off his toned abs. Sora swallows hard.

The washing machine starts to shake loudly and Axel looks over at him, catching Sora watching him once again. Damn, he thinks.

“You know,” Axel starts. “I never got to eat anything yesterday. I haven’t eaten anything in a very long time.”

“You’re in a kitchen,” Sora says walking out, trying to act like he wasn’t just caught. “I’m sure you can find something.”

“Ro-Sora…” Axel corrects himself, but Sora still hears the mistake. Axel looks like is actually sorry, leaning on one leg while scratching the back of his head, but just doesn’t know how to say it.

Sora lets the moment hang in silence for a second before saying, “Fine.” He marches into the kitchen and finds the bread, placing two slices into the toaster. He then opens the fridge and finds some eggs, cracking them on the edge of a skillet and flipping on the stove top. He stands there with his arms crossed, and what he assumes is a pretty impressive pout, as the eggs start to sizzle. The toast pops out and he lets them sit there and cool before he grabs them and throws them onto a plate.

Axel sighs and leans against the counter next to the stove, “I’m sorry, Ok?”

“You don’t really seem sorry,” Sora lies, as he flips the eggs over with a spatula.

“I- I am though. You just don’t understand how  _ happy _ I am to see you again.”

“You’re happy to see Roxas.”

“Yes!”

“See!” Sora turns to him in anger, spatula raised. “I’m  _ Sora _ ! You’re not happy to see  _ me _ ,” Sora barks at Axel, finally letting loose some of the things that he’s felt since last night. “I’m seriously going crazy, do you know that? I’ve only recently started having these dreams. Of you. Of fighting and battling against  _ something _ I don’t even understand. I just technically met you yesterday! And we bring you home. How insane is that, really? It’s insane.” He turns to the stove and turns it off, flipping the eggs onto the plate with the toast, and pushes it towards Axel. “I don’t know you, but I do know you. It-It… I feel something for you. But is it me that feels it? No, it can’t be, because it’s Roxas that feels that way. I’m him… but I’m me.”

The moment hangs in the air, before Axel picks up a slice of toast and starts munching on it. “I came to terms a long time ago that you died. I spent several years alone, thinking of different ways I could’ve saved you… or how I wasn’t able to. I spent so long meditating and trying to let you go. And then you’re here in front of me again.” His eyes slide to the window, watching a bird land in the yard and then fly off with a twig. “I don’t... have you back, do I?”

Sora sighs. “I keep telling you I am him. You do have him back to some extent, but I am Sora who grew up in this world, with a sister. I go to school, and watch stupid movies with my best friend. I stay up late playing video games.” He takes a deep breath, “I remember more and more each day. I remember being someone else and the lines between Roxas and Sora are getting blurred. I don’t know who I am sometimes, here lately. But I don’t want to lose who I am now in the process. I want to be Sora.” He holds his hand to his chest right above his heart, squeezing the fabric of his shirt. “Me.”

Axel pushes the plate away from the counter and leans into Sora’s space, “Then, can we start over? I won’t lose you again.” Axel lifts up Sora’s chin, “Let me get to know you, as Sora.”

Sora sighs again, “That’s all I want.”

“Ok,” Axel smiles then, all teeth. “What’s your favorite color?”

Sora rolls his eyes at that, “Green.”

Wiggling his eyebrows, Axel says, “Oh, why thank you.”

“Eat your food. You said you were hungry.” Sora turns his back on Axel, but he is also smiling.

They talk amicably for a little while as Axel eats the eggs and toast. Sora grabbed a banana that was on the counter and munches on that. Axel, at one point, stated that the eggs and toast were good. Sora just raised an eyebrow at him and said he didn’t use any salt or seasoning on purpose. Axel laughs, caught in his lie.

Eventually, Kairi waltzes in with her pajamas on. “So… I heard a bit of yelling earlier. You two good?” She makes her way to the fridge and takes out the milk, pouring herself a glass.

Sora pushes himself out from beneath the table and stands, stretching. “Yeah. Better, at least.”

“Thank god. Please don’t ever wake me up early again with your yelling at each other…” She pauses and then scrunches up her face. “And don’t wake me up doing  _ that _ .”

Sora sputters, “I-I wouldn’t!”

Axel unhelpfully adds, “Oh, come on, Sora. You know what comes after a fight, right?”

“You. No talk.” Sora says as his ears turn pink. Axel and Kairi laugh together at Sora’s expense. Hearing Axel say his name properly makes his heart beat a mile a minute.

“What are you going to do today?” Kairi asks him, as she jumps up and sits at the counter, soaking in the sun that’s streaming in through the windows.

“I don’t know. Lay around? I’m so beat from yesterday,” Sora says self-consciously feeling for the bruise that is at his back. His muscles also feel a little sore, and he rolls his shoulders.

“Lay around?” Axel says unamused. “No. We are gonna start your training today. I wasn’t joking yesterday when I called you weak.”

“I thought you said we could do that stuff at our own pace!” Sora turns to glare at the redhead, but then thinks better of it. “Can’t we just relax today? I bet you’ve never seen a movie before. I have an idea! Let’s watch a movie.”

“After a few hours of training, sure!” Axel says springing up from his seat, and grabbing Sora by the wrist. “Come on. Let’s see what you’re made of.”

“I’m not made of anything, now let me go! I’m going to the couch!” Sora tries to protest by forcibly walking his way to the living room.

It is all in vain, however, because Axel isn’t having any of that. He quickly bends down and grabs Sora behind the legs and carries him bridal style to the back door. “Kairi, mind opening the door for me?”

“Oh my god. I hate you.” Sora tries to push himself as far away as he can from Axel’s chest.

“You two have fun!” Kairi laughs as she opens the door, and winks at Sora when they make eye contact. She locks the door behind her, damn it.

Once they are outside, Axel carefully places Sora’s feet on the ground, letting him stand. His backyard isn’t the biggest, but what space they do have was covered in healthy green grass. The fence is also tall enough that even Axel can barely look over it, and he notes this will help keep their privacy whenever they need to use their weapons. The sun is already starting to heat up the day, even though it is still rather early.

“Just so you know, I can’t even do a push up,” Sora says stretching his arms over his chest.

Axel looks surprised. “That…” He shakes his head. “Is not good.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not really the athletic type anymore.” Sora walks to the middle of the yard and places his hands on his hips. “Ok. What’re we doing?”

“Seems like we need to start out at the basics, apparently.” Axel steps up next to him and points to the ground. “Do a pushup.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything…” Sora crouches down onto the grass and goes into his pushup position.

“Oh, God. You’re already doing it wrong.” Axel bends at the knees next to Sora, pushing his arms apart slightly. “You need to have your arms a little wider than your shoulders. And your back,” he firmly places a hand on Sora’s back, pushing it down. “Your back needs to be flat. Think of your body as a straight line, and that should help your form a little. Hmm,” Axel stands and moves around Sora, looking at his stance. “Your feet are fine, but I suggest you push them apart a little more. It’ll help with balance.” Sora huffs, but does as he’s told.

“Anything else?” Sora says to mock Axel, but isn’t surprised when he does add something.

“Only one more thing,” Axel moves again and sits in front of Sora, only about a foot away. “Keep your eyes forward and look at me.”

“Oh, and that will help my form?” Sora jokes.

“Actually,” He laughs, scooting close. “Keeping your head facing up will also help keep your body aligned properly. So look at me, ok?”

Sora rolls his eyes, and decidedly looks in between Axel’s eyes, being petty.

Axel leans back. “Ok. Chop! Chop! Do a hundred pushups.”

“I told you I can’t even do one!”

“Just try, Sora.” He sounds exacerbated for the first time.

“O-Ok.” Sora takes a deep breath, looks down to the grass, hears Axel tut, and lifts his head back up. And then Sora bends his arms to do a pushup. Falls.

“...Looks like we’re going to be here a while.”

Sora groans while blowing a piece of grass away from his mouth.

**-0-0-0-0-**

It’s later in the day, and Sora is starting to regret only having a banana for breakfast. He finally completes a few pushups that meet Axel’s expectations, but then he’s making Sora sprint around the yard, doing all sorts of other exercises. At one point Axel makes Sora do squats and Axel may have whistled when he had to stick his butt out.

Later, Kairi comes outside and offers a glass of water to Sora, which he greedily keeps away from Axel. His skin burns, and where he had a slight smear of pink from yesterday, he can feel the heat spread and he knows there will definitely be a nasty burn on the back of his neck and face later today.

“I’m surprised you’re still out here. I’m impressed,” Kairi says looking at Sora soaked in sweat.

“Not because I want to. At all. I’m being held against my will, Kairi.” Sora falls back to the grass and lands on his butt, wincing a little. “Please save me…”

“No chance,” Kairi says and Axel gives her a high five.

“You suck.” Sora pours some of the water into his palm and slaps the back of his neck, at least that feels refreshing. “Can we at least take a break?  _ I’m _ the one starving now.”

“Sure, but we have more to do after you eat,” Axel says.

“I’ve never actually looked forward to school before. I’m looking forward to school tomorrow.” Sora lies down on the grass and shuts his eyes. Now that he isn’t exerting himself as much as he was, he can feel a slight breeze in the air.

Even with the backdoor shut, Sora can hear the doorbell buzz. Jumping up, with almost more energy than his body should be allowing him right now, he zooms past the other two. He yells, “I got it! I got it!”

Sora bounces to the front door, excited to finally have a break, but when he opens it, he’s met with glaring greenish blue eyes.

“Riku! Uhh!” Sora’s covered in sweat, and probably has grass stains on his knees, and not to mention the sunburn that is now visible. He’s surely an eyesore. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been calling you.” Riku walks in, immediately noticing the tall redhead that has sauntered his way to the front door out of curiosity. “And you never answered. We were supposed to study today, remember?” He makes his way through the house and dumps his bag on the kitchen table, turns to Axel, “Who are you?”

Axel does the unsurprising thing, and slings an arm around Sora’s shoulders. “I’m this guy’s boyfriend.”

“N-No. I mean, kinda. But not really,” Sora stammers. “His name is Axel… and um. Oops?”

Riku sighs and shakes his head. “I leave you alone for five minutes… Sora, can I have a word with you?” He shoots a glare at Axel. “Alone.”

“Oh, y-yeah. Axel, go have some water.” Sora peels Axel’s arm from around his shoulders.

Once Riku has them both out of earshot in Sora’s room, Riku lays it into him. “What the hell, Sora? That guy is obviously older and has  _ face tattoos _ for crying out loud. What are you thinking? Why are you so sunburned? Do you know we have a test tomorrow?”

“One question at a time please.” Sora goes to his closet and pulls out some fresh clothes, and hides behind the door as he changes quickly. He immediately feels better, even if he needs a shower too. 

“Who is that?” Riku picks his first question.

“Well… There’s a lot to catch you up on,” Sora laughs nervously. “You probably won’t believe any of it.”

Sora tells him about how he woke up yesterday morning, and felt like there was a beacon calling to him. He tells him more details about his dreams and how they’re memories from a past life, like Axel and his relationship with him, about the underground chamber and the secrets it holds. Then he gets to the part where Kairi and Sora left yesterday to go and  _ find the place _ . He tells Riku about the keyblade, and the ‘unlocking’ the wall, and how Sora was assaulted by Axel who at the time thought they were intruders. 

“So.” Riku takes a seat on Sora’s bed. “You’re telling me that man out there is practically a stranger. Who is dangerous.”

“But I do know him!”

“You know memories  _ of _ him. You don’t know him, and you let him into your house.”

Sora flops down next to Riku. “Sounds about right. So you believe me then?”

“I believe you’re pretty damn crazy.” He knocks their shoulders together. “But I’m gonna have to ask to see this ‘keyblade’ to believe any of it.” He thinks for a moment. “I think you got yourself in over your head. Why didn’t you call me?”

“You know you wouldn’t have let us go because you would have said it was risky, and I needed to go… find out about myself and my dreams. Before, I didn’t really want to know. But something was different about yesterday, Riku. I had to.”

“It  _ was _ risky. You’re right though, I wouldn’t have wanted you to go. But if nothing else, I would have gone too. At least once you told me you were dead set on going.”

“We won’t avoid calling you next time.” Sora swings his legs off the bed and stands. “Can we go now? I’m starving. Wanna order pizza?”

“Pizza sounds fine.”

Axel is leaning on the wall next to Sora’s door when they come out, his sharp eyes piercing when he looks at Riku. “Just so you know,” he lifts himself off the wall, and blocks their path. “I was born with these  _ tattoos _ .”

“Geez, drop it Axel. He’s only worried.” Sora pushes at Axel’s chest, making him move out of the way. “So, maybe proper introductions? Be nice to each other. Axel, this is Riku my best friend since I can remember. Riku, Axel… I’ve known him for a day, technically, but also… all that other stuff.” He blushes and throws his arm over his head haphazardly, and laughs.

Kairi reappears and they chat together while Sora calls to order pizza. Riku is also giving her a hard time about not calling him, and she apologizes more than Sora did.

He is connected to the pizza place and orders two large pepperonis. Riku shouts, “Make one a veggie!”

Everything will be fine.

**-0-0-0-0-**

“Ok, Sora. Time to study,” Riku says as he throws his plate away. “I’ll also make you that tea that I bet you forgot about again.”

“Study?” Axel says surprised. While everyone else was done with their pizza, Axel was moving in for another slice. Sora can’t blame him though, pizza is good. “He needs to train with me. He needs to get prepared for any danger that  _ will _ likely happen.”

“Key word: likely.” Riku folds his arms over his chest, already turning himself into Mother Riku. “You’ll probably be the one bringing trouble to him in the first place. Plus, Sora wants to get into Twilight University with me. He can’t do that if he fails all of his tests, and there is a test tomorrow.”

“He doesn’t need to study. There is a lot that we need to accomplish, and once he gets all of his memories back, he won’t even want to go to wherever it is you’re saying. He already has a job, waiting for him to finish.”

“A job from a thousand years ago, right? No. He can do what he wants, and right now this is what he wants. To go to school.”

Sora, at this point, isn’t even listening to the two of them argue. His tongue is sticking out slightly as he mashes at buttons on a handheld game. He jumps up out of his seat and hollers, “What! No! I still had two seconds left! This stupid game cheated me out of two seconds!”

“Sora!” Riku and Axel both shout at him at the same time, and when he glances over he sees them both looking at him in disgust, like playing a game should be the last thing on his mind right now.

“...What?” Sora turns off the game, the screen going dim.

“We need to study. Test tomorrow.”

Sora’s eyes go wide, and his face pales. “What! I didn’t know that!”

Riku slaps his hand to his face. “We discussed this on Friday,  _ and _ I told you earlier!”

“Please tell me you have your notes. Your notes always spare me certain death.” Sora throws his arms out in front of him and claps, “Please!”

Axel sees that he has lost the argument for now, and wonders off, seemingly uninterested in math. A few minutes later and they have their textbooks sprawled out on the table, along with their notes and calculators. Sora, while having acted overly concerned a little while ago, is trying his hardest to balance a pencil on his nose while Riku is explaining how to memorize a certain formula.

“So what you’re saying,” Sora says as the pencil falls from his nose and he picks it up off the floor. “Is that I have no hope.”

“No. You’re the one saying that.” Riku points to a problem Sora just solved, “It may have taken you a little while, but you’re getting the hang of it.”

“I don’t know...” Sora looks towards the spare bedroom where Axel is. “I guess that’s good.”

Riku laughs, “One more problem, that I’m sure will be on the test, and I’ll let you go find out what he’s doing.”

Sora turns back around quickly, “Wha-! I’m not… I’m not interested.”

“You’ve glanced that way three times now,” Riku says unimpressed.

“Whatever,” Sora blushes. “If there’s only one more problem, then let’s knock it out.”

After another twenty minutes, because of course one problem would take that long (screw math), Sora’s sprawled out on the table, exhausted. Riku is busy packing up his notes, and cleaning the table when he says, “I’m going to make that tea. Go see you-know-who.”

“It’s not like he’s Voldemort or something, Riku.”

“Prove it.”

Sora laughs, but is already standing and cracking his bones as he stretches. Outside, the sun has already started to set, and he has to flick on lights to see better. He looks down the hall, towards the spare room again, even though maybe he should call it Axel’s room for now. He’s unsure of how long Axel will be interested in Sora. Maybe he’ll realize that Sora likes to be lazy, and play video games more often than he likes to do other things… like exercise or save the world, like he used to do as Roxas. Roxas was… tougher, stronger, dedicated. Sora was, dedicated, or he could be, but he definitely wasn’t how he used to be in his past life.

He bites at his thumb.

“Go,” Riku says again, pointing down the hall. “Before I pick you up and take you there myself.”

“Maybe soon that’ll be a little harder to do, if Axel actually can get me to train hard enough, that is.” Sora looks over again, smiling.

“Just go, Sora. I’ll have the tea ready when you guys come out. I’ll get Kairi to help me set up.”

“Thanks mom.”

“Don’t start that nonsense.”

Sora silently walks up to Axel’s door, the pads of his feet barely making any noise. There is a faint light coming from underneath it where Axel has turned on a lamp, but when Sora quietly presses his ear to the door he can’t hear anything. Maybe Axel is asleep? He  _ was _ up fairly early. Maybe he was even up before the sun, and if that was the case the n it makes sense that he’d be tired.

Sora goes back to biting his thumb.

There is the clanking of glass in the kitchen, and he hears the gas stove top turn on.

The door in front of him opens then, and Sora almost falls into the room.

Axel’s long arms catch him before he falls completely, though. He closes the door behind them and makes his way back to the bed. “I wouldn’t be a very good guard if someone could easily sneak up on me, you know.”

“I- I wasn-” Sora’s eyes spot the albums on the bed. “You’re going through our photo albums?”

Axel actually blushes himself then, like maybe he forgot he didn't want to get caught looking at the pictures. “You said you wanted me to get to know Sora.”

“Are you still thinking of me as Roxas?” Sora says hesitantly.

“No- well, maybe. But not because I’m trying to ignore you, Sora. But because you are both the same person to me.” Axel falls back onto the bed, and pats the empty space beside him. Sora plops down next to him.

“I don’t want you to get disappointed when I’m not the same though.”

“I know you’re not the same, and that’s fine. But don’t get upset with me when I think of you as one person instead of two. I’m trying to get to know  _ who you are now _ .” Axel is looking towards the wall, but Sora can tell he’s in his own thoughts and memories. He blinks, and turns his head to look at Sora again. “You’re my soulmate.”

“But ...what if you don’t like  _ me _ ,” Sora whispers.

“Impossible.”

Sora turns his head away. “You don’t know that.”

“Mmm, I may be going off of my strong feelings for Roxas, true. But...” Axel stretches out his arm and pulls Sora in. “Like I said, you’re my soulmate.”

“You used to say you only liked blondes...” Sora’s words make him sound hesitant, but he is already against Axel’s hard, warm chest, listening to the heart beat slowly.

There’s an unexpected chuckle from Axel. “I guess I have a thing for brunettes too.”

Sora beams, happy with Axel’s words, and points to a photo in the album. In the picture, Sora and Kairi are much younger and wearing Mickey Mouse ears from Disney World. There’s a large castle behind them. He remembers this day because it’s one of his favorite memories. Their mother was able to get enough time off to spend actual quality time with her kids, instead of leaving them with a nanny, and she took them to the theme park. Sora and Kairi pulled her along for hours, making her get on every ride imaginable. He relays this to Axel who looks at the photos diligently, nodding his head at the story.

Sora is animatedly talking about different photos and the stories behind them, when there is a knock on the door.

“I’m coming in, and you two better both be dressed,” Riku says as he swings the door open. “I got tired of waiting. Come on, tea’s ready.”

The four of them sit around the table and drink tea, as the afternoon turns to night.

Axel already feels like part of the family.

**-0-0-0-0-**

_ “Hey. Do you ever talk?” _

_ “No. We’re on duty.” _

_ “Not talking is boring though.” _

_ “You shouldn’t have signed up for this position then.” _

_ “Oh, don’t be like that.” _

_ “Fraternization will not help with our duties.” _

_ “I would totally fraternize with you, though.” _

_ Roxas looks over at the newcomer, lifting an eyebrow. _

_ The man with blazing hair winks at him.  _

**-0-0-0-0-**

Sora is grinning ear to ear when he submits his test and walks out the classroom the next morning. Riku sees him before Sora does, throwing an arm around his shoulders and giving him a noogie. “That smile better mean you did well.”

“I think so! I actually felt like I knew some of the answers!” Sora laughs, even though he’s pinned by Riku and he tries to shove him off playfully. “Dude, you stink. Lemme go!”

Once Riku releases his hold, Sora takes a moment to run a hand through his hair to make it stand back up properly. They got out of class a few minutes early because of the test, and the halls are mostly empty as they make their way to the cafeteria.

Sora is in a better mood today than he was yesterday. For the most part, Axel is actually trying to get to know who Sora is. In fact, Sora is very happy with how things have turned out. If you think about it… Getting memories of your past life, and remembering your past lover, what are even the chances of seeing that person again? And for him not to be some really old person, or to be a tombstone, but living, breathing, and… hot. It’s more than he could have asked for when he began to have these memories return to him. Before, he would have done almost anything to get them to stop. Sometimes he still wants them to stop, but the reward that he got is well worth the price of some sleepless nights, he thinks.

He’ll have to do something for Axel though. Maybe once Sora graduates, he’ll get an apartment in the city and have Axel live with him, and Axel can get a job. Sora is technically fine with Axel being a mooch, hell, he lived by himself for a thousand years in what is essentially a cave. Axel deserves a few years of rest and being a bum. Sora knows, however, Axel won’t want that. Maybe he could get a job as a personal trainer? He seems to be a pretty decent teacher when it comes to that stuff.

Though, Axel did mention that they’ll have to go back to the Chambers eventually to do...  something. But hopefully whatever it is it’s an easy task. Sora thinks, surely, since it’s been a thousand years whatever threat was there before is long gone by now.

Sora is still grinning as he and Riku talk about graduating and their plans for attending Twilight University in the spring, when someone bumps into him and makes his books scatter to the floor, and an unfamiliar arm wraps around his shoulder, squeezing even tighter than Riku was earlier, “What’s up, blondie?”

He’s in the process of trying to get the arm off of him when he freezes, “W-what?”

The woman from before, Arlene?, who knocked that kid into him only a few days ago, has her face much too close to his when she says, “I was wondering how long I’d have to wait until you started to remember!” Her blue eyes look down at him, menacing. “So how was it? Find what you were looking for down there?”

Riku grabs her by the collar of her shirt and pulls her off of Sora, slamming her into a nearby locker. She only looks amused, however.

“By the way, you were cuter blonde.” Sora can only stand there, feet frozen to the floor, as she walks away laughing ominously.

Riku beside him, picking up his things quietly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am obviously heavily using a lot of the KH lore, but I am also fiddling with it a bunch too. If you have any questions, please ask. Though, some stuff gets explained in later chapters. Kudos are gold. Comments are priceless. :3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate those that like this. As you may have noticed, I updated how many chapters there should be. Should roughly be about half way done. Chapter 6 should be an epilogue. 
> 
> Also, those of you who have already read the first two chapters, you may want to re-read as I changed things slightly. But only slighty, so it's not a big deal otherwise.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter's ending. *Kisses* :*

He makes Riku swear not to say anything a little later in the evening. He grabs Riku harshly by the wrist, harsher than he should have, but fear has him too caught up in the moment.

“Sora,” Riku whispers. “Where are we going?”

He steers Riku to the front of the school, and then quickly out the doors. He’s still gripping Riku’s wrist in a tight panic, as they move further and further from the school grounds.

Suddenly Riku yanks his arm back, “Sora. Stop.”

Sora whirls around, fear still on his face. “Riku, please. Don’t say anything to Kairi, or Axel. They can’t know.”

It’s sunny outside, still fresh in the day, and skipping school is not what they should be doing so late in the semester, but right now Sora’s heart is in his throat and even though the heat is nice and warm outside; he feels frozen. Riku in front of him sighs, and looks at the passing cars as they breaze by them quietly. “What’s going on, Sora?”

If Axel knew… What would he do? Make him stop going to school? Would he take Sora back to the chambers? Sora knows that he’s not ready for that yet.

There may be trouble ahead of him, but he’s not ready. Arelene hasn’t really done anything dangerous to him. _Yet_ , his mind helpfully supplies.

“Sora,” Riku looks at him again. “Who is she?”

_Who is she?_

**-0-0-0-0-**

_“Demyx! Stop this!” Roxas has only a moment to dash out of the way as water dances around him._

_Demyx only plays his sitar louder. “You know me Roxas. I don’t want to fight.” His arm strokes a cord on his weapon, making the water head straight for Roxas at blinding speed._

_It crashes into his shoulder, and Roxas grunts. “Then don’t!”_

_Roxas knew things were tense in the organization, but he didn’t realize how bad it had gotten._

_Or how bad it would get._

_“Orders are orders, Roxas. You know that.”_

_Roxas readies the keyblade._

_What is going on?_

**-0-0-0-0-**

Who was she? Sora’s memories only go so far. Though here lately the pieces seem to slowly be finding their way into place. Like puzzle pieces. Mostly his dreams are still of Axel, but sometimes… The fighting, the fight. The reason for dying.

It’s starting to make sense.

But not fast enough. Who is Arlene? Is she someone reincarnated as well? She must be. Was she an enemy like Demyx? Was she a friend? She definitely doesn’t act like a friend.

The whirling of his ceiling fan is offering no answers.

It has been a little over two weeks by this point now, and Arlene is keeping her distance. Any time they pass in the hallway she doesn’t even give him a glance. This has to be good news, right?

Somehow he got Riku to agree not to say anything, for now at least.

There’s a knock on his door, which takes him out of his thoughts, and he groans. “What!?” He hollers and flops back onto the bed, arms wide across the comfy mattress.

Kairi peeks her head in, “Want to go shopping?”

Sora groans, “I’m exhausted, Kairi. Axel keeps making me use all my energy training and fighting with him. I don’t even think I can get out of bed right now.” Sora recalls an intense training session just earlier that morning. Even though Axel makes Sora train some during the week, once it was the weekend he makes sure to give him hell. At least the keyblade is easier to wield now, even if he still can’t beat Axel in a match yet.

She enters his room and sits on his bed. “Axel needs more clothes, you know. He only has like a few garments, and really, as a girl… I can’t let that happen. Besides, he’s got to be running up the water bill with how much he has to clean them.”

“Do I have to go? I’m sure you could handle it,” Sora says getting to his elbows to look properly at her. She’s wearing a pink dress with sneakers, already ready to go.

“Na-uh. Axel hasn’t really been able to spend any quality time with you. At least this would be something different. You need to come with us,” she says a little too chipper. She stands and makes her way to his closet.

“You’re gonna force me, aren’t you?” She turns around to give him a wink. “Of course.”

She eventually finds something worthy of him to go outside of the house in, and throws the clothes over his body. “Here ya go! Now hurry, I already have Axel waiting in the car.”

“Whatever,” he says without any bite.

Soon, he’s changed and settles himself in the backseat of Kairi’s car. He sees Axel in the front seat and pulls lightly at his red hair. “I feel dead. Thank you.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. It’ll come in handy someday, and then you’ll really thank me.” Axel turns his head to look at him, but Sora sees what’s in his hands and gasps as he looks at the screen.

“Who told you that you could beat my score!?” Sora flings forward to try and snatch the game out of Axel’s hands, but Axel’s arms are long and he only laughs as Sora balks.

“Settle down you two. I’m about to drive, you know.” Kairi gets into the car, and tells Sora to sit properly and buckle up, and soon the car jostles into gear, moving down the street.

“You had no right beating my high score!” Sora says as he finally gets his hands on the game. He mourns for a bit when he sees Axel’s name at the top of the list. “Do you know how long it took me to get there?”

“Get good, Sora. Get good,” Axel laughs.

“You suck,” Sora says as he begins another quest. _His_ name is the only one allowed at the top.

“Damn right I suck,” Axel says, and Sora almost misses the words.

Kairi, on the other hand, chokes on air, “No. None of that. I’m in the car. In fact, I’m driving said car. So keep this car ride PG, understood?”

Sora’s ears go pink, but he firmly keeps his eyes on the screen.

**-0-0-0-0-**

“I like it!” Sora grabs a shirt on the rack and shows the other two. But when he turns around, he’s met with less than enthused faces. “Oh, come on. It’s not that bad. Plus, it’s on clearance.”

“It’s on clearance because no one wants it.” Kairi takes the garment and puts it back where Sora found it. “Jokes about chickens and their butts are not that funny. Just so you know, Sora.”

“Maybe something simple, like five black shirts.” Axel looks around self-consciously. “That way we can get out of here and people can stop staring at me.”

“Well, it’s not my fault you look like you’re a cosplayer. You’re in a long black leather coat, what do you expect?” Sora is already pulling out another corny shirt, when Kairi tsks at him. He puts it back with a pout. Axel is in the same thing he always wears, outside of some sweatpants and a shirt Sora lets him borrow when they spar and workout, and while he does technically look good in the outfit, it’s not something people see every day.

“This was our _uniform_.” Axel looks around, embarrassed. “I’m half tempted to shoot someone with a flame so they’ll stop staring.”

“If you think that would make them stop, you’re dead wrong,” says Kairi as she finds something in another rack of clothes and she places it to Axel’s chest. She hums her approval, and throws it on her arm to keep until he can try it on.

“My picks are way better,” Sora says a little peeved. “Besides, something like that will give him _too_ much attention.”

“Jealous, Sora?” Kairi smirks at him, and Axel wiggles his eyebrows.

Sora turns around swiftly, looking through another rack. “Nope.”

It’s several hours later, or at least it feels that way, when Kairi states Axel now has enough to try on. Sora begs her to just buy them and they can return whatever needs to be returned later, but she’s not having any of it. They are sitting outside the changing room, Sora still trying to beat Axel’s score, when Kairi snatches it from his hands.

“We should also buy him a phone today,” she says as she keeps the game out of his reach. Apparently, both her and Axel want him miserable.

“What do you think I am? Made of money?” Sora sinks back into the cushion, defeated. “I only have so much saved from Chip and Dale’s. Being an ice cream barista only pays so much, you know.”

“You serve scoops of ice cream to kids during summer. You’re not a barista.”

Sora sticks his tongue out at her. “Why do you think he needs a phone?”

“Of course he needs a phone! What if something happens? He seems to think you could still be in danger, you know.”

Sora bites at his lip, because he knows that someone else from the past is back. At least one other person, and if there’s one, there could be more. He still hasn’t informed Axel either, and when he eventually does tell him, he’ll probably be pissed that Sora knew and didn’t inform him right away. “If we get him a phone, it has to be cheap.” Sora thinks, “Besides, I’m sure he’ll want to get out of the house eventually. I’m surprised he hasn’t had cabin fever yet.”

Axel steps out from behind the changing room door then, “Ok, so, Kairi? I think these are too tight.” He’s wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans with a nice fitted black shirt. He’s scratching at his chest, and he’s slouching a little, probably out of embarrassment. He looks _good_.

Kairi looks at him and grins, “Nope. That’s perfect. Look, even Sora approves.”

“What!?” Sora stammers. “I- I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah,” Kairi says unconvinced. “But you should have seen your face when he walked out. You totally approve.”

“Ok,” Sora grabs at the game still in Kairi’s hands. “So we get those.”

Axel goes back inside to change, but not before Sora can see a smirk on his face.

“After this, we’ll go get him a phone, and then we should be good to go back home. But Sora,” Kairi looks at him then, and all he can do is glance up briefly because _this game does not pause, come on Kairi you know this_ . “You should probably be more serious about this stuff. With your past, and Axel… You really could be in danger. Axel is over a thousand years old because he was in a _magical underground chamber_. I’m just worried for you, is all.”

The game in his hand feels like a brick. “I know… I just don’t want to think about that stuff. Besides, nothing’s happened yet, right? Maybe nothing will happen. I just want to graduate, get into TU with Riku, get an apartment, and live my life.” He sighs, “Just because all that stuff in the past happened, that shouldn’t get in the way of me now…  that’s how I feel, at least. I got Axel back, and that’s all I need.”

Kairi scooches a little closer to him then, and places her head on his shoulders. She plays with the hem of her skirt, twirling around a loose thread. “I want you to be safe.”

“That’s why I’m training with Axel, right? Don’t worry too much,” Sora says, but he’s already leaning in and kissing the top of her head.

“You know…” She starts. “You should totally take him out on a date. I know you know him from memories and stuff, but it would be great to get to know him this way too. All you do is come home and train for a bit, maybe eat dinner together… It would be good for the two of you. Plus, you could put these new clothes of his to use.”

A date? Sora feels his face heat up. What could they do, and where could they go? He imagines holding hands at a park, or fishing together at a lake. Those really don’t sound all that appealing. Maybe they could do a movie? But something they could do all day and talk would be better… Besides, if he can escape from a round of training, that would be a plus in his book. Kairi is right though, they haven’t really done anything together as Sora and Axel, everything he remembers is _Roxas_ and Axel. Axel has put in effort into getting to know who Sora is, but Sora hasn’t done much to help Axel get to know him either.

So a date it is.

Axel finally emerges wearing his long leather coat again. “Ok, let’s never do this again.”

Sora agrees wholeheartedly.

It’s later in the evening when Sora is trying his best to find a good place for a date. He’s on the computer in the living room, glancing around every few minutes to make sure no one, especially Axel, is looking over his shoulder. But he’s on the couch trying to fiddle with his new phone, head down and face shoved a little too far into the screen, so Sora is left in peace for the most part.

Google isn’t really offering a lot of help though, because even if this is a _first date_ , it’s not a normal first date. Going for a cup of coffee may be fun, but Sora scraps the idea because they could just do that at home, and the point of going on a date is to leave said home. Another option is going on a bike ride, but that honestly just sounds lame.

Eventually, he narrows it down. They could go to an arcade or bowling, but then, Sora’s a bit of a sore loser, so maybe not after all. Possibly an amusement park or the zoo? Hmm, those are outside though, and he’d rather go somewhere with AC. He’s had enough of the heat when he’s outside with Axel as it is.

A museum? A museum is inside, so AC. It will have plenty of stuff for them to talk about, and it’ll also give Axel more information about the state of the world now, Sora’s world.

He smiles to himself, because yes! He’s done well.

Except now he actually has to ask Axel out on a date. He whirls around in the chair, and stares at Axel.

“So,” Sora breaks the silence in the room. “Wanna do something tomorrow?”

Axel looks up from the little screen on his phone. He really does look better with new clothes, thinks Sora. The jeans fit him a little too well, and he kinda feels maybe Axel is actually out of his league. And that thought shoots a pang through his heart. He rubs at his chest absentmindedly. He shouldn’t think like that.

“Go where, exactly?”

“O-on a, um, a da-” Sora stammers, and the unlikely scenario of Axel turning him down crosses his mind. “You know what? Nevermind? Ha-ha!” He scratches the back of his head, nervous.

Something crosses Axel’s face, like he just wishes Sora would spit it out, but his eyes slide past him, to the screen. Sora tries to block the view with his big head, doesn’t even think about turning around and shutting off the screen. However, Axel’s already taking the few steps it takes him (damn his long legs) and is peering at the webpage Sora has pulled up.

“You wanna go somewhere with me, Sora?” He says inches from his face. “Will it be just the two of us?”

“Uhm. I-It doesn’t have to be? I can invite Kairi and Riku… too.” Sora fidgets in his seat.

Axel looks at him softly, “I’d prefer it just to be the two of us.”

“Really!?” Sora turns around then and points to the screen. “I’d like to go to this museum then. It’s not far, and I’ve never been. It looks really cool! It opens kind of early, so unfortunately we’ll have to skip training, but I can buy the tickets and then we can have lunch. How does that sound?”

“It sounds,” Axel says crossing his arms in front of him. “Like we’ll have to wake up extra early to do training, and _then_ we can go.”

“Darn.”

“Nice try.” Axel bends down getting in Sora’s face again. He goes to act like he’s looking at the screen checking the times and activities, but quickly moves his head and gives Sora a kiss on the cheek.

Sora groans in protest, but he’s faking it.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Axel is true to his words, unfortunately. He’s at Sora’s door before the sun is up. At first, Sora isn’t sure what he’s hearing, because surely, it’s not knocking. He throws a pillow over his head, turning on his stomach, and starts to drift back into nothingness. It’s finally been a few days where he’s having normal dreams, and he can’t let them go to waste. But even as he dozes, Axel is there, snatching the pillow and flipping on the light.

“No. Please,” Sora’s voice cracks from the sleep. “Please. More sleep.”

“You’re making really good progress, and it’s Sunday, which means you’ll get pretty lenient treatment throughout the week. We need to do this.” Axel voice is all he hears, because he refuses to open his eyes.

That is, until he feels a hand on his upper thigh, sneaking its way underneath boxers. His eyes spring open. “OK! I’m up!”

“Good. See you in a few.”

Sora throws a pillow at the door as Axel leaves.

After several hours of sparing and feeling like death, Sora is finally free of his torture. Axel, the nerve of him, found ways to sneak a hand on his thigh or butt every time he dashed behind Sora during a match. This always makes Sora lose his balance, and once he fell face first into the grass because it startled him so much. Axel’s defense was ‘you need to be prepared for anything’, but Sora is pretty sure that normally when people fight, they’re not trying to feel each other up.

He’s in front of his closet now, trying to find out the perfect thing to wear to his… date. He sighs, as he flips through the hangers. His hair is still rather wet from the shower, and a towel is draped over his shoulders. Sora needs to look a little more put together than he usually does. He towels his hair a bit more and throws it over his head, covering his eyes. Why can’t this be easier? Will Axel even care what he wears? Probably not.

Of course, he could ask for Kairi’s help, but he’s determined to do this himself. Eventually, after another internal debate, he does find something. He picks a pair of dark jeans, a nice shirt, and a black short sleeved jacket. He’s looking at himself in the mirror, hoping that he’ll look good next to Axel, when his phone buzzes on the desk next to him.

Axel: _Ready, princess?_

Sora: _Never xD_

Axel: _I’m about to leave without you_

Sora: _I’d like to see you try. You’d get lost three feet out the door._

If there’s one thing that worries Sora, it’s that Axel catches on to things rather fast. He didn’t even know how to work a phone yesterday, and here he is already texting him. Sora scratches the back of his head, and pockets the phone. The man will be driving a car next week, for all he knows.

Finally, Sora leaves his room, and closes the door quietly behind him.

Axel wolf whistles when Sora walks out. He’s lounging on the couch wearing the same thing that he tried on yesterday, black shirt and dark skinny jeans. He must know Sora really liked the outfit on him. “Oh shut it,” Sora says, blushing.

Kairi comes out of her room, still wearing pjs and her hair is done up on a short ponytail. She’s got paint splattered on her cheeks and she claps her hands, “I’m so excited for you guys!”

“Are you painting?” Sora asks her, as he licks his thumb and wipes some paint off her face.

“Mhmm! I just got the urge.” She shuts an eye as Sora’s thumb rubs harder. “Maybe I’ll show you when you get back, if I think it’s good enough.”

“I’d like to see. Just don’t get it on Mom’s furniture. She’d have a meltdown.” Sora gives Kairi a light punch on the arm and says, “Ok. Well, we’ll be back.”

“See ya,” Axel waves to Kairi as he follows Sora out the door.

It’s nice outside. The sun is bright, but not too bright, and the humidity is low. Even as the days turn scorching, today is one of those lucky days where people aren’t disappointed when they go outside. Maybe they could have done something outside after all, but he’s not going to take the chance of the weather changing. Sora hums to himself as he turns to go down the street, and smiles at Axel.

“We’re not taking the car?”

“Nope. Technically the car is Kairi’s, but I bet she’d let me borrow it if I begged.” Sora’s swings his arms wide when he walks. “We’re taking the train.”

“Oh. You don’t have a car?” Axel throws his arms over his head, keeping up with Sora. “Why?”

“No real reason. I didn’t really want one, as I can get anywhere I want to go with the train. And really,” he says embarrassed. “Kairi’s a little more mature than I am. So, when mom asked if I needed a car, I recommended Kairi. She deserves it more. Plus… I’m planning to move in with Riku once we graduate, and live in the city near TU, Twilight University. Really don’t need a car there.”

“Still plan to do that?” Axel asks. Though, even with his words, Sora can tell he’s fishing for more info.

“Probably.”  He turns quickly to face Axel. “But, I’d really like you to go with me. If, you know, you want.”

“I could be down with that.” Axel says, though Sora can hear the ‘but’ in his voice. “Except, Sora… We need to go back to the Chambers. I know you haven’t remembered everything yet, but there is something there for you.”

“I… No. I don’t remember.” Sora sees a pinecone in front of him, and skips it into someone’s yard. “Yet, anyway. Can we just enjoy today? Please?”

Axel sighs, and runs a hand through his bright red hair. “We’ll figure it out.” He bumps their shoulders together, and reaches down to take Sora’s hand in his.

“Ok!” Sora happily laces their fingers together.

When they get to the station, Sora has to look at a map to figure out which stop they need to get off on. There’s a lot of people out today, probably because it’s so nice out and a weekend, and Axel is stuck people watching as Sora goes and buys the tickets for the train. The ticket lady is the same old lady as always, and he chats with her for a few minutes. She loves to tell anyone and everyone about her two cats, and Sora always likes to placate her. Sometimes she’ll even give him free tickets. Today is one of those lucky days, and he leaves the counter with his prize, telling her he wants to see more pictures next time of her little fur babies.

“Do I need to be concerned?” Axel jokes. “She looked sort of into you.”

“You should totally be concerned,” he jokes back. He hears over the intercom that their train will be departing soon, and he rushes the two of them on. It’s even more crowded on the train, as all the seats are taken. They stand close together, Axel above him holding on to the pole, shirt tight around his torso. Sora can’t help but be shoved against that torso when more people shuffle on and bump into him. Axel only lays an arm over Sora, thumping slowly on his back as he looks out as the train departs.

He lifts his head and catches Axel’s eyes. Axel looks at him with a raised eyebrow, but Sora only smiles.

Soon enough they’re at their destination, and standing there is a large museum. He looks at it with awe, and wonders why he’s never been here before. He doesn’t go to the city often, he figures. He likes his small town for a reason, but still. There are people milling about with cameras around their necks, and children skipping on a pretty cool piece of chalk art.

Once they are inside, Sora goes up to the counter to buy their tickets and Axel calmly follows behind him looking into a case with some historic artifacts. Sora immediately recognizes the teenager at the counter. Olette is spinning slowly back and forth in her chair, and is doing her best to hide the fact that she has her phone underneath the counter.

“Olette!” Sora surprises her with her name, and she looks up startled. She waves him over when she realizes he’s not her boss, and is instead a friend. She puts her phone away in her back pocket.

“Sora! How’s it going?” She says, cheerful as always.

“I didn’t know you worked here.”

“Yup. Just on Sunday’s though for now. I’ll be joining you soon at Chip and Dale’s since it’s about summer, and they’re gonna need more help. When do you go back?”

“Probably after I graduate, so in like a month. I’ll need that extra money for when I move in with Riku.”

Sora is reminded of Axel when he walks up next to him and peers at Olette over his shoulder. “Hello.”

“H-Hi!” She blushes and looks at Sora conspiratorially. She whispers, “Who’s this!?”

“This is Axel, um…” While he’s introduced Axel before to Riku, this feels a little different. Firstly, Riku is practically family and the whole situation was a little weird with how they met. Secondly, he’s never exactly come out as gay. Not that it mattered, really, but it was still embarrassing. And third, even though Axel calls Sora his soulmate, it’s not like they’ve had a discussion on their label. “M-my boyfriend.”

Her face goes red, “Oh my god. I’m so jealous!” She slaps her cheeks, and makes an excited noise. “Are you two on a date then?”

“Ugh…” Sora places his hands on the countertop and drums his fingers. “Yup.”

“Ok. One sec!” She whirls around to her computer and punches in a few keys. The printer in front of him lights up and spits out some tickets. She tears them off, and takes two pamphlets out of a stack next to her and places them in Sora’s hands. “On the house,” she winks.

“Olette! You didn’t need to!” Sora says, but he’s already opening the pamphlet and looking at all the exhibits going on today.

“Don’t worry. You can make it up to me by buying me ice cream when we start working again.” She takes back one of the pamphlets and opens it up on the counter and points to a few things, “So. I recommend going to Weapons Throughout the Ages. It’s really cool, and they have a lot of neat info you might like, especially for you boys. This one is on the west wing. Also, you could go to Abstract Masterpieces, or what I like to say, ‘Is This Really Art?’. That one is pretty close, so it’s worth going to. Oh, oh! This one is totally for you, Sora.” Her pointer finger moves quickly down the sheet. “Video Games and Their Importance to the Modern Era. They have a couple demos to get the kids interested. I know you’ll like the games if nothing else.”

“Oh wow! Definitely going to that last one!” He says bringing the pamphlet close to his face to read the tiny summary about the exhibit.

Axel is also looking and points to something, “What about here? I’d like to learn more about automobiles.”

Sora nods, “Sure! But look! They have the demo for Jungle Slider!”

Axel chuckles.

“Thanks Olette! I like your recommendations.” He grabs the tickets and hands one to Axel to hold onto.

“Just make sure you get me a scoop of seasalt ice cream with a scoop of double fudge brownie, and then we’re even.” She says, she sees more guests start waltzing in behind them, and she gives a short wave to beckon them over.

“Oh, but Olette, that’s not a good combination.” Sora shivers in disgust.

She’s already greeting the other customers, but does turn to him and sticks her tongue out, “I bet you’ve never even tried it. Anyways! Go have fun. And nice meeting you Axel!”

“Same,” Axel says with a short nod.

They start out their date going to the first place Olette recommended, despite how many times Sora begged to go to the video game exhibit first. Axel said that they should start out at the closest one and make their way through. This way, if anything else caught their eye, they could stop and look. Plus, as Axel guessed correctly on why Sora wanted to take him here in the first place, looking at more stuff was a way for Axel to learn more about this world.

Except, despite his intentions, everything is just _so boring_.

He thought, just maybe, it was a fluke on the first exhibit. The weapons were interesting, sure, but really, that was the only thing to look at. Sora didn’t really care how this weapon was wrapped in twine, or how that weapon was forged. Axel, at least, was taking the time to look at each description, but Sora could tell he was only doing it to feign interest.

After that they went to the art show, and Olette was right. Was this stuff even really art?

“What do you think it’s trying to say?” Sora asks.

“I don’t even know anything about art…” Axel stares at the painting.

Sora turns his head sideways trying to get a different view. Nope, still not making any sense.

“Let’s just move on.”

“Agreed.”

There was one exhibit about the human body that was a little more interesting, but only because he never knew that there are people with a condition where they practically _turn into trees_. What the heck? Axel’s face was priceless when he saw that too and very happily left the room before he could see anything about tapeworms.

Sora… may have even fallen asleep at one point because it was so boring. There was a short old man who was going around telling people about a film that would be airing in a few minutes at one of their theatres. Sora shrugged, thinking maybe the video would be helpful and interesting. But, boy, was he wrong.

The narrator's voice was low as he described how the planet was formed, and how the lava slowly created the islands that now make up their home. It didn’t help that he’s been awake for far too long, and the cushion was a little comfy. Sora yawned, and settled close to Axel.

It was probably the sound of birds chirping in the video that did him in, along with the voice. His eyelids sunk a little with each passing minute, because this video was both boring and relaxing at the same time. His last thoughts before he shut his eyes completely were that he was sorry he was putting Axel through torture too.

Sora startles awake when the lights turn on. There’s people shuffling out of the little theatre, and people are throwing him a look, like they can’t believe he just fell asleep. His face goes red and he laughs nervously.

That’s when he turns his head and notices that he slobbered. On Axel.

Oops.

“Oh.” Sora looks at the little wet mark on Axel’s shoulder. His face was red before, but now it was crimson.

“I don’t mind.” Axel stands and takes Sora’s hand, lifting him up. “But can we please leave? I think we should do something else.”

Sora feels it then. He feels the failure sink into his gut like a lead balloon. He imagines it sinking, exploding in his stomach, and maybe if that actually happened he wouldn’t have to face this. “I’m sorry.”

Axel sighs. The last of the people have already left the small theatre, and now they were the only ones left standing there. The screen in front of them blinks a few times and then disappears, as someone tries to get it ready for the next show. “Don’t worry about it. You’re hungry right? Let’s go find something to eat and maybe do something… spontaneous.”

“Spontaneous could work.” Sora bites at his lip. “What about the car exhibit, or the game one?”

“I probably wouldn’t really understand anything anyway. And you have plenty of games at your place to play. Come on, let’s go.” Axel stretches his arms over his head and yawns. “Besides, it’s too quiet in here.”

“Yeah,” Sora yawns too. “It was really nice of Olette to give us the tickets though.”

“Don’t forget to give her the ice cream she wants then.”

“Oh! I have an idea!” Sora says pulling at Axel’s arm as they make their way through the museum. “After we eat lunch we should go to Chip and Dale’s and have some ice cream.”

“Ok.” Axel let’s Sora lead the way outside, and once they make it there, Sora goes back to swinging his arms.

Chip and Dale’s ice cream is the best, after all.

-0-0-0-0-

They are sitting at a small table at Chip and Dale’s, after having ate at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that Axel picked, when Sora is a little too giddy as he licks up his ice cream. “Oh! Brain freeze.” Sora clutches his head with a free hand, never letting go of his little cup of gold. “I forgot about those.”

“Don’t eat it too fast then,” Axel says as he takes a small bite out of his own cup.

“But! But it’s so good!” Sora takes another large chomp after the brain freeze finally subsides. Axel chuckles, and leans on the table with one of his arms, twirling around his spoon in the small bowl with his other hand. His eyebrows sink as he thinks, and Sora can tell right away something is on his mind. “What?” He says, his giddiness turning immediately into a glare. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing,” he lies.

“Spit it out,” Sora says taking another bite, but this time he can’t taste anything. Damn Axel.

“It’s just…” He starts. “We need to discuss Roxas, and your memories.”

Sora looks out the window next to him and sighs. “I don’t wanna.” He knows, of course, that maybe they should, but today is supposed to be fun. They are on a date after all. His memories are slowly coming back as the weeks progress, and the run in with Arlene has him worried.

She wants something from him. She wants something in the chambers, and she will need his help to get it, whatever it is. Even if Sora’s not sure who she is now… or what she wants, he feels she’s gonna make him remember sooner, rather than later.

And he needs to be prepared for that.

“See. That’s why I didn’t bring it up,” Axel says letting out a huff.

A mother and her daughter come in. The bell rings above the door as it swings open, and the little girl is bouncing on her toes as she peers over the glass to look at all the flavors. Her mother is smiling as they make their order. He wishes he could let go of his past, and of the danger that it holds. He wishes he could be like that little girl, with no worries ahead of her. He wants Axel and nothing else, honestly.

But that’s not reality. “Did I ever tell you that I remember dying?”

Axel looks startled, his green eyes widening a fraction.

“I don’t remember a lot about it, but I remember seeing you… tormented. That’s part of the reason I didn’t really want to know anything about myself to begin with. I didn’t want to know what happened to you, or to me. Because it just hurts.”

“But look where we are,” Axel says touching lightly at Sora’s hand on the table. “You’re… back. And we found each other again.”

“Except that’s not all there is to it, is there?” Sora turns his hand over, letting their fingers tangle together. “I still need to go back there, as you said.” He thinks for a moment and sighs again, “What is it that I need to do, anyway?”

Their ice cream is starting to melt slightly, and Axel let’s go of Sora for a second to take another mouthful, but his hand is back just as quickly as it was gone. “I mentioned it before, when we first met again. You have a power only you can use, the keyblade. You have to ability to unlock worlds, and connect them together. Once you… died, this world got surrounded in darkness. The Chamber is a collection of many powerful items and weapons from those other worlds. You could unlock this world and bridge the gap. Sora, we can even visit other worlds.” His eyes twinkled with something Sora hasn’t seen before. “We can protect them with our power. There are worlds that have demons, called Heartless. We can help.” He moves in closer and whispers, “We can even visit our world.”

“This is my world,” Sora says defensively.

“Of course it is,” Axel takes a breath and looks at Sora. “You should think about it though, and if nothing else, you need to reopen the connection to this world, and restart Tron.”

Sora immediately remembers the giant computer that is down in the Chambers, and now he can put a name to it: Tron. Just the mention of the name springs forth a few memories. Tron helped guide them to worlds, and acted as a control panel and communication board. He was even a friend to Roxas, really.

There’s another shard of memory that makes him wince, and Axel looks up at him worried. He locked Tron for some reason. He remembers rushing into the Great Room, panic and fear licking at his heels. He was just informed of the traitors and what their plans were… But what were their plans? Why did he have to shut Tron down? He remembers Demyx, and him stating he had orders.

Arlene… What is her role in this?

“Is that a good idea? There’s a reason why I locked it… I just can’t remember.”

“You wanted to stop the access to the other worlds, but it was only supposed to be temporary.” Axel squeezes Sora’s hand. “Then you died.”

Maybe Arlene wants access to the other worlds, and if that’s the case it’s better the connection stay severed. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll go down there again with you. Maybe that way I can remember more,” he says biting his lip. “Last time I was there it seemed to jog my memories a little faster than the dreams did.”

“When would be a good time for you?” Axel says, hopeful.

“Preferably after graduation.” And maybe he’ll get lucky and find out what Arlene wants, and stop her before then. “That way if anything happens, I won’t have to worry about school.”

“Thank you, Sora.”

He let’s go of Axel’s hand, and looks down at his ice cream goop. “My poor ice cream.”

Axel laughs, “You know, I’ve been thinking. You’re just like Roxas. Well, of course you are, but what I mean is you are Roxas who didn’t have a harsh life.” Sora is in the process of bringing the puddle to his lips, when Axel continues, “It’s like all your defenses that I had to deal with are gone. I wonder what I would have been like… If I was reborn.”

“You’d be a punk with several tattoos. You’d ride a motorcycle and have all the girls hanging from your shoulder,” Sora says the last part with a hint of jealousy.

“I’d only want your attention though,” Axel says standing and stretching.

“You only want me now because I’m Roxas. There’s no way in a million years you’d go after me if it wasn’t for that.” Sora also stands and throws their trash away. “Especially if you were reborn and couldn’t remember your past.”

“Stop thinking like that, Sora.” Axel steps close behind him, and when he turns he’s staring into the redhead’s chest.

He shakes his head a little, “No.” The man in front of him chuckles, and Sora can see the chest move up and down as he laughs. One of Axel’s hands is on his chin, lifting up his head. “Why are you so close, Axel?”

“You’re stubborn,” Axel says laying his other hand around Sora’s waist.

Sora realizes how intimate this probably looks, and quickly darts his eyes around the small shop. No one is paying them any attention, thankfully. “I am Roxas, after all.”

“I love you as Roxas. I also love you as Sora.”

Sora’s eyes snap back to Axel’s, and his face begins to burn. “Oh,” is all he can think to say.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here, before you melt from embarrassment.” Axel laces their fingers together again as he opens the door, pulling at Sora’s arm.

“Oh,” he says again, letting Axel pull him outside into the sun.

**-0-0-0-0-**

 

_“Roxas!” He turns when he hears his name. The lanterns in the hallway casting large shadows. It may not have been long ago that the new comer joined, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to pry his way into Roxas’ life._

_He sighs. “Axel. What is it?”_

_“Oh, come on. Look happy to see me,” The bright redhead says as he slows to walk next to Roxas._

_“I have somewhere I need to be right now. Namine needs me.”_

_Roxas goes to turn away from Axel, when the man throws out an arm and slams it against the wall behind him. Pinned. Axel leans forward, and all Roxas can see is his face. “A-Axel?” Roxas tries to stay calm, but he can feel heat spread across his cheeks, and he darts his eyes away, anywhere but the bright green eyes he’s come to be able to quickly find in a crowd._

_“Why do you act interested one day, and then try to ignore me the next?”_

_“I - I don’t know what you’re-”_

_Axel slowly closes the gap, and all thoughts Roxas has come to a stop as he melts into Axel._

_He feels his short hair being pulled at, forcing his head up even further as Axel slots their lips together._

_Roxas lets himself want, for a change._

 

**-0-0-0-0-**

“Come on, Sora!” Axel says lifting a flaming chakram. “You need to be able to do better than that!”

Sora swings the keyblade out in frustration. “I’m doing the best I can!”

It’s extra hot out today, and even with how early it is, the humidity clings to them unwelcomed. At least it feels this way to Sora, but Kairi is laying outside in a swimsuit trying to get a tan while Sora and Axel train. She’s lying out on a towel as far from the two of them as their yard will allow, and she’s reading a book with headphones in her ears. Sora wants to smack her with his keyblade.

“She’s also in the way!” He yells.

“Think of her as a bystander you have to protect then. Just make sure not to hit her.”

“But I want to hit her!” He looks over at her and glares. She’s swinging her legs and humming, while he has sweat cascading down his back.

He’s still glaring at his sister when Axel dashes to the right of him and goes to land a blow, but Sora is quick and brings up his keyblade just in time. Their weapons clack together loudly. In the same moment, Sora sweeps his leg out and actually manages to make Axel fall on his back, but then the man is quickly turning in the grass and getting on his knees, blocking when Sora goes in for his blow.

It has been a couple days since their ‘date’ and Sora feels even closer to Axel than he did before. It’s just small things, like brushing their fingers together while watching a movie, or when Axel comes into Sora’s room just to chat about nothing. He’ll lean against Sora’s headboard and sit much too close while Sora reads a book for school. Sora also found out that Axel has been going to the town library when Sora is in class, trying to find any evidence of what happened all those years ago. But their ‘operation’ was pretty secretive to begin with, and Axel’s not having any luck.

He’s still in his thoughts when he gets knocked down into the grass, landing on his stomach. The keyblade is thrust from his hands from the force, scatters into the yard and disappears. There’s a knee jammed into his side. Axel has a hand firmly on Sora’s neck, and his flaming weapon lands inches near his head, catching a few pieces of grass on fire. “You’re dead.”

Sora turns his head just slightly to catch Axel huffing above him, and Sora smirks. He takes both his hands and pushes up with as much strength as he has, twisting and summoning the keyblade back. Axel has to move quickly out of the way, jumping back a step, but Sora is on him in a second. He feigns going to Axel’s right, and instead grabs at his wrist on the left and twists him around throwing him to the ground in the same manner that Axel had him pinned just a minute earlier. Sora throws his arms over his head as he sits on top of Axel and yells, “Victory!”

“No. If this was a real fight you would have been long gone.” Axel splays his arms out, defeated.

“I can’t hear you over my victory!” Sora says piercing his keyblade into the grass but when he lets it go, it falls apart in shards of light. He wraps his legs around Axel tighter and cheers.

He’s not sure why he does it then, but while Sora has him pinned he grabs Axel by the shoulders, flipping him around. Axel is still panting harshly under him, and his sharp green eyes a nice contrast to his red cheeks and hair. Sora is now breathing extra fast too, but not because of their sparing.

“Sora?” Axel asks breathlessly.

His heart beat picks up, thumping wildly in his chest. He glances quickly at Kairi to make sure she’s still not paying them any attention, and she’s not. She’s turned on her side away from them, still reading her book.

Taking a deep breath, and looking down at Axel one more time, Sora leans in breaking the distance. Axel surges up on his elbows in the same moment, eyes dilated and their lips meet. They melt together. Sora’s skin has been burning for a while now with the inevitable anticipation, and he lets out a long awaited groan. One of Axel’s hands wrap around the back of Sora’s shirt, clinging to him. Sora does the same and clings to Axel’s shoulders as he tries to sink into the man, chest to chest.

Their tongues twist together, and Sora can’t help but think of spice and cinnamon as he explores Axel’s mouth. Sparks of lust rushing throughout his body.

His eyes spring open when there’s a cough somewhere to his right, and this time when he looks over at Kairi, her back is still turned to them, but Sora can see that her ears have gone a shade of crimson.

Oh, God. His sister witnessed them making out.

Axel laughs and pats him on the thigh, telling him to move off of him, and Sora does. “Maybe that wasn’t the greatest idea,” Axel says.

Sora helps Axel stand, and he avoids his eyes when he says, “Oh, sorry.”

He leans in and whispers next to Sora’s ear, “Maybe we should go to your room instead?”

Sora rushes inside, Axel following close behind.

Axel indeed tastes like spice and cinnamon.

Their fingers are stitched together, and Sora decides he’ll never let go.

**-0-0-0-0-**

_The sharp tearing pain is the first thing that Roxas registers. It blossoms on his side, making his eyes feel heavy, and his breathing begins to labor. He falls to his knees, the soft grass comforting his fall, and the sky above rumbles. The whistling of wind in the distance is sure to bring one hell of a storm. It’s taking all of the energy that he has to stay awake and not just double over, but he still has a job to do. He has a job to do before the rest of the traitors arrive._

_He looks up then, forcing his eyes to focus. He can see one of those traitors now in front of him as she pockets her weapons, pulling her hood over her head. Even with her face partially covered, he can see the sinister smile tug at her lips. She is sure of her work, as she always is._

_When she goes in for a kill, she kills._

_She turns then, her black boots moving towards the entrance. The word ‘stop’ form on his tongue, but it can’t make it past his lips._

_He sees her form getting smaller as she makes her way inside. But she stops and starts running back towards him, retreating. She must have noticed something in the distance she doesn’t want to mess with, and she mutters a few curses under her breath as she glares at him as she runs past, making her escape._

_The pain makes another searing throb go throughout his body, and his form falls at last to the ground._

_“Roxas!” And there it is, he thinks. The worst thing about this, him dying, here and now, is the pain that he will be leaving Axel with._

_Axel is looking around frantically, trying to find him. Roxas’ long black coat and the tall grass is hiding him from Axel’s view, however._

_Roxas’ sputters, saying Axel’s name. Only blood gushes out, seeping into the ground below._

_“ROXAS!” Axel screams his name in pain, as he finally spots him, but his body hardly has any energy to move. He can feel the blood on his cheeks and chin. He tries to lift a hand to his face and wipe it off, to at least try to be somewhat presentable to Axel, but his arm stays limp beside him. There is the_ thud, thud, thud _of Axel’s heavy boots on the ground below as he rushes to Roxas’ side. He can turn his head then, if only barely, and sees Axel’s tall frame crumble beside him. He feels himself being lifted up slowly and placed in Axel’s lap. “Roxas. Oh God. What do I do? Stay with me.”_

_The air above them is hazy, foggy, and still. The light mist encasing his body actually makes this experience a little bit better than he could have ever imagined, he thinks._

_But he has a job to do. And Axel… Axel will mourn him, but Axel is someone Roxas can trust, and he will have to sacrifice himself too. Just in a different way._

_“A-Axel,” Roxas begins, but Axel is shushing him as he tries to assess the damage._

_“Don’t speak. I got you. I got you!” Axel lifts up the coat where Roxas was stabbed. His eyes go wide with fear. “No…” Roxas already knows that his side is covered in gorging tissue and blood. Roxas pushes his fingers as softly as he can, trying to move Axel’s hand away._

_“It was Larxene.” He only has a few minutes left at best, and this is important. “I can… I can lock it one last time. They won’t be able to get it… It’s… Ugnn.” His eyes shut as the poison from the dagger begins it’s heavy work. “That’s why they want me gone. I wouldn’t - couldn’t...”_

_“But... I need you… I need you.” Axel voice is breaking, and this isn’t… this isn’t how he wants to go. He wants to know that Axel can still manage without him. He’ll have to if he wants to save the worlds._

_“Axel...” Roxas grasps at Axel’s hands, gripping them as tight as he can. But his grip is weak, barely even there. “You have to go back inside. Protect it, protect everything.”_

_Axel’s face is torn with worry, and he shakes his head sharply. “I need you,” he repeats._

_“Don’t do this… Please.” Roxas brushes his fingers on Axel’s skin, trying to massage the pain away for him._

_There’s a moment of clarity in Axel’s eyes, as he realizes the severity of the whole picture. “I can. I can… I will.” Axel lifts Roxas up slowly, rocking him gently. Roxas feels soft hands run through his short blonde hair, surely stained in blood and dirt by this point, and he sighs. “I love you, Roxas.”_

_His body is getting weaker. He’s about gone. It’s now or never._

_Axel places him back on the ground, and his cheeks got dirty with Roxas’ blood. If he had any energy he’d wash it off for him, and tell him not to let his clothes get ruined for nothing. But he doesn’t have that energy, nor the time._

_“You’ll have to go inside, for a long time. They will try to get in.” Roxas summons the keyblade, a burst of light, and then it too falls, thunking to the ground beside him. “If they ever do, you’ll need to be there.” He’s thankful that Larxene didn’t finish him off completely, because if she knew that he’s still able to complete something like this, she surely would have made faster work of him._

_“Yes.” Axel leans over him. “I know.”  He kisses Roxas’ cheek. “I love you.”_

_He feels his eyes closing, as the rain begins to pour. Axel’s green eyes the last thing that he sees as he begins to fade. He wishes he could see him smile, but knows that’s impossible to ask for right now._

_He’s glad, though, that Axel is the last thing he sees._

_Axel stands, Roxas can feel his presence leave. He waits as long as he can, to give Axel the time he needs to get far enough inside._

_It’s time._

_He imagines all the precious artifacts, Tron, all the information he can keep safe by locking this place away. Protecting the connections to other worlds._

_He imagines Axel._

Please stay safe, and I love you.

_The keyblade bursts to life, hovers above Roxas’ now completely still form, and scatters into thousands shards of light._

Be safe.

_Thunder strikes nearby as the storm finally approaches._


End file.
